Department for Transport

Railways: Electrification

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the UK rail network is electrified.

Andrew Jones: The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) publishes data on the electrified rail route operated by Network Rail in Great Britain. The length of Network Rail operated electrified route (so excluding the High Speed 1 line) in Great Britain was 5,766 kilometres in 2017-18. This represents 36% of the total Network Rail mainline railway route. This data is available at the following link:https://dataportal.orr.gov.uk/displayreport/report/html/c35e0c28-324f-4168-81b9-be197963f251

Radar: Wind Power

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department's proposed aviation strategy will include the potential effect of the operation of radar on the implementation of the offshore wind sector deal.

Michael Ellis: The offshore wind sector is economically beneficial for the UK. From 2010 the offshore wind’s share of annual UK generation increased over 5% to 6.2% in 2017, with costs falling faster than could have been envisaged 10 years ago. The Offshore Wind Sector deal could deliver up to 30GW by 2030 and the Government has committed to work across Government, including aviation, to ensure this is achieved in a sustainable way taking account of users of the sea, aviation and Ministry of Defence. Although wind turbines can impact the effectiveness of radar systems, it is essential that aviation continues to benefit from a high standard of safety, and therefore ongoing cooperation between Government and the windfarm industry will continue to play a key role in ensuring that this remains the case. Government policy in regard to funding mitigations of wind impacts on radar is that mitigation costs are recovered from those windfarm developers who stand to benefit commercially. Therefore, the wind sector deal is currently dealt with separately from the upcoming aviation strategy. An Aviation Management Board, in which the Government and relevant bodies such as National Air Traffic Service and the Civil Aviation Authority participate, has been established for the Government to work jointly with both the windfarm industry and the aviation sector to find a solution which meets the needs of both industries and ensures a safe airspace. This will ensure cross-government coordination on radar and aviation policy matters.

Radar: Wind Power

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Government's offshore wind sector deal, published in March 2019, whether his Department has allocated funding to help the renewable energy sector mitigate the effect of aviation radar on the development of offshore wind sites.

Michael Ellis: The current Government policy in regard to funding mitigations of wind impacts on radar is that mitigation costs are recovered from those windfarm developers who stand to benefit commercially. An Aviation Management Board, in which the Government and relevant bodies such as NATS and the CAA participate, has been established for the Government to work jointly with both the windfarm industry and the aviation sector to find a solution which meets the needs of both industries and ensures a safe airspace. This will ensure cross-government coordination on radar and aviation policy matters.

Radar: Wind Power

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has issued strategic guidance to (a) NATS and (b) the Civil Aviation Authority on the future procurement of aviation radar systems in relation to the effect of those systems on the deployment of new (a) onshore and (b) offshore wind sites.

Michael Ellis: The Offshore Wind Sector Deal published by Government in March this year envisages up to 30GW of offshore wind deployment by 2030. An Aviation Management Board, in which the Department and relevant bodies such as NATS and CAA participate, has been established for the Government to work jointly with both the windfarm industry and aviation sector to find a solution which meets the needs of both industries and secures a safe airspace. This will ensure cross-government coordination on radar and aviation policy matters. The Department will take account of the outputs of this work in developing aviation policy.

Roads: Accidents

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many (a) pedestrians, (b) cyclists, and (c) motorcyclists have been fatally injured on English roads in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Michael Ellis: The number of reported road pedestrian, pedal cyclist and motorcyclist fatalities in England for the years 2013 to 2017 is shown in the below table.  PedestriansPedal cyclistsMotorcyclists2013334912912014377100280201534693313201640291267201741092297Source: DfT STATS19These figures are published in table RAS30053: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/743642/ras30053.ods

Railways: Repairs and Maintenance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of Network Rail's emergency maintenance on the rail network in the past five years.

Andrew Jones: It is a matter for the independent regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), to assess the effectiveness of NR’s maintenance activity and its impact on the performance of the rail network. ORR reports every six months on its assessment of how Network Rail is performing in the “Network Rail Monitor”, which is available on the ORR’s website at ORR.gov.uk.

Maritime Safety Committee

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 267283, if he will set out the areas of maritime safety policy where advice was provided to the Government by the delegates from (a) the UK Chamber of Shipping, (b) the Isle of Man Ship Registry, (c) Lloyd’s Register EMEA, (d) Inmarsat, (e) the Cayman Islands Shipping Registry and (f) Apax Partners.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 267283, if he will provide details of the advice provided to the Government on discussions in the International Maritime Organisation’s Maritime Safety Committee which related to (a) seafarer and (b) ferry industry safety; and which delegate or delegates provided the advice in each instance.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency routinely invite a range of Government and industry stakeholders to a preparatory briefing meeting prior to each International Maritime Organisation session, including the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC). At these meetings the attendees will discuss the maritime issues on the agenda and provide advice on these issues. Both the UK Government and its maritime stakeholders are committed to maritime safety including (a) seafarer and (b) ferry industry safety. No specific discussions on either of these issues were raised at this session of the MSC. Some areas of discussion were on: the development of further measures to enhance safety of ships relating to fuel oil; shipborne towing and mooring; testing of lifesaving appliances; and, proposed new outputs for the Organisation, which will have an effect on the overall safety of seafarers.

Maritime Safety Committee

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 267283, for what reasons Apax Partners was given a seat on the Government’s official delegation to the International Maritime Organisation’s Maritime Safety Committee.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Vice-President of Apax Partners was present at the International Maritime Organisation's Maritime Safety Committee to represent a consortium which will soon be taking over Inmarsat PLC, who are the current global maritime distress and safety service provider. Both his and Inmarsat delegation’s presence was considered appropriate in order to field specific queries which may have arisen from discussions on the planned takeover.

Department for Transport: Iron and Steel

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will sign his Department up to the UK Steel charter.

Michael Ellis: The Department is currently assessing which aspects of the UK Steel Charter it is appropriate and relevant to commit to. However, the Charter is generally consistent with existing Government procurement policy to address barriers for UK steel producers, and the DfT bodies that use steel already comply with the key principles of this policy for in-scope procurement activity.

Department for Transport: Iron and Steel

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had discussions with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the UK Steel charter.

Michael Ellis: I can confirm that discussions have taken place between officials in the Department and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the UK Steel Charter.

Dangerous Driving: Foreign Nationals

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to increase the rate of prosecution of dangerous foreign drivers.

Michael Ellis: Road traffic legislation applies to everyone using British roads, including drivers and vehicles from other countries. Any driver stopped by the police for motoring offences in the UK will continue to be punished, whether British or foreign. The Cross Border Enforcement Directive (2015/413/EU) assists countries in the prosecution of foreign vehicle owners when that vehicle is suspected of committing one (or more) proscribed offence in another Member State. In Britain, we prosecute the driver for these offences. Additionally, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) operates the graduated fixed penalty and financial deposit system to enforce road traffic law for commercial goods and passenger carrying vehicles. The system covers areas such as: brakes, steering and drivers’ hours. The DVSA issues fixed penalties for non-compliance and vehicles are prohibited from moving until the defect has been rectified. In 2018/2019, DVSA inspected a total of 198,045 vehicles at roadside checks, including 104,697 non-UK vehicles.

Motor Vehicles: Lighting

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to tackle the effect on road safety of excessively bright car headlights.

Michael Ellis: Regulations are already in place to help prevent headlamps from causing glare. Before vehicles can be sold or registered in the United Kingdom manufacturers must ensure compliance with international vehicle approval requirements, which include defined beam patterns and intensities to minimise the occurrence of glare. The Road Vehicles Lighting Regulations 1989 prohibit the use of headlamps that can cause undue dazzle or discomfort to other road users. Vehicle users have a responsibility to ensure their vehicles are maintained correctly, and headlamp aim is checked at the annual roadworthiness inspection (MOT test) to ensure it is within acceptable limits.

Electric Vehicles: Bicycles

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the use of e-bikes.

Michael Ellis: The measures set out in the Government’s statutory Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy, as well as the almost £2 billion being invested in cycling and walking over the current Parliament, will help boost the use of e-bikes as well as the use of conventional bikes. The Department has recently published refreshed cycle to work guidance to make it easier for employers to provide employees with cycles, including e-bikes, worth over £1,000. The Government is also encouraging the use of e-cargo bikes through the £2m e-cargo bike grant programme which contributes 20% of the purchase price of a new e-cargo bike up to the first £5,000 of any purchase price.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Staff

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff in his Department are working primarily on (a) fossil fuels, (b) renewables, (c) energy efficiency and (d) nuclear energy.

Chris Skidmore: The Department currently employs the following numbers of staff working primarily in these areas: Upstream oil and gas policy23.3 FTEDownstream oil resilience18.5 FTEGas policy, including security of gas supply and the future of the gas market14.1 FTECoal policy, including closure of unabated coal-fired generation by 2025, emissions limits for fossil-fuelled generation technologies, and the emissions performance standard4.5 FTELiabilities from the former nationalised coal industry8.4 FTEThe Offshore Petroleum Regulator for Environment and Decommissioning, based in Aberdeen92.6 FTERenewable energy107 FTEEnergy efficiency115 FTENuclear energy205.4 FTE

Public Houses: Closures

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help reduce trends in the number of pubs closing each year.

Kelly Tolhurst: Several measures have been introduced across Government to support pubs, including a freeze on beer duty announced at Budget 2018. This means that the price of a typical pint of beer in 2019 is 2p lower than it would have been had duty increased with inflation and 14p lower than it otherwise would have been since ending the beer duty escalator in 2013. Many small pubs are benefitting from the business rates retail discount announced at Budget 2018, which cuts bills for eligible businesses by one third from April 2019 for two years. It is available to eligible businesses with a rateable value below £51,000. Additionally, some 2,000 pubs have been listed as Assets of Community Value (ACVs), meaning that if they are put up for sale, the community can have up to six months to bid to buy them. Planning regulations which came into effect in May 2017 removed permitted development rights from all pubs, meaning that planning permission must now be obtained prior to change of use or demolition. Furthermore, the Government’s recent announcement of a tourism sector deal, as part of the Industrial Strategy, will be a boost for pubs and the hospitality industry.

Carbon Capture and Storage

Giles Watling: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of investment in carbon capture usage and storage to help reach the Government's net zero by 2050.

Chris Skidmore: On 27 June, a new, legally binding, target to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 came into force. This will require ambitious action across the economy building on our Clean Growth Strategy, and carbon capture usage and storage (CCUS) is likely to play a vital role. Our CCUS Action Plan sets out that we will move to deploying CCUS in the 2020s, working in partnership with industry to achieve this. We are investing over £50 million in CCUS innovation programmes, supporting innovative technologies across the UK between 2017 and 2021. As part of this investment we announced on 27 June that nine companies have secured £26 million of government funding, in addition to industry backing, to advance the rollout of carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS) in the UK - a crucial step towards the UK’s net zero emissions and the end of the UK’s contribution to global warming. It is the next milestone for the Government’s ambition for the UK to be a world-leader in the field as laid out in the Clean Growth Strategy and the CCUS Action Plan. One company, Tata Chemicals is being awarded £4.2m toward the construction of a facility to capture and utilise 40,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year – the equivalent of 22,000 cars. When fully operational in 2021 it will be the largest carbon capture plant in the UK, removing 100 times more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than the country’s current largest facility. Our Clean Growth Grand Challenge Mission sets an ambition to establish at least one low-carbon industrial cluster by 2030, and the world’s first net-zero carbon industrial cluster by 2040. The Mission is technology neutral but is focussed on technologies that can be delivered cost-effectively through the use of shared networks, and CCUS is one of the key technologies that could help to deliver the mission. The mission is backed by £170 million public investment through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. Also supporting the mission, the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund is a £315 million fund aimed at helping industry to transition to a low-carbon future. The fund will help companies cut their energy bills and carbon emissions through investing in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies. This could include supporting technologies that are strategically important to long-term emissions reductions such as CCUS and Hydrogen.

Incinerators: Waste Heat Recovery

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the locations of waste incinerators that supply energy for district heating.

Chris Skidmore: The Department works with colleagues in Defra to collate publicly available information on waste-incinerators in England and Wales which received planning permission or environmental permits to be ‘enabled’ to supply heat through district heating facilities. This is published on the Renewable Energy Planning database page on Gov.uk. It is a commercial decision for the enabled facility whether to then supply heat through the district network; this information is not collected centrally. Based on this information the locations (as of March this year) of waste incinerators which are heat and power ‘enabled’ are as follows:Coventry & Solihull Waste Disposal CompanyWest MidlandsEastcroft Energy-from-WasteNottinghamshireBolton Thermal Recovery FacilityGreater ManchesterCross Green Energy Recovery FacilityWest YorkshireLincoln Energy-from-WasteLincolnshireSheffield Energy Recovery FacilitySouth YorkshireNorth East Energy Recovery CentreClevelandNorth Yard Energy-from-WasteDevonArdley Energy-from-WasteOxfordshireTrident Park Energy Recovery FacilitySouth GlamorganSELCHP Energy Recovery FacilityLondonFibrepower, SloughBerkshireEdmonton EcoPark Energy-from-WasteLondonRuncorn Energy-from-WasteCheshireTwinwoods Heat and Power CHPBedfordshire

Climate Change

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will list the organisations from the (a) medical sector and (b) scientific community that have contacted his Department calling for a net zero target (i) by 2030 and (ii) by any other date earlier than 2050.

Chris Skidmore: I refer the hon. Member to the answers I gave him on 18th June to Question 262226 and on 25th June to Question 266627.

Climate Change

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to his Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 266626 on Climate Change, whether any of those councils have set a target of net zero by (a) 2030 and (b) any other date earlier than 2050.

Chris Skidmore: The Department does not maintain a central record of councils that have set a target of net zero by these dates. The Government welcomes the actions of Local Authorities to tackle climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions locally. We have always been clear that to achieve our climate targets it will take significant ambition at all levels.

Climate Change

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps (a) he is taking and (b) proposes to take to ensure that energy efficiency in buildings is adequate to ensure that the target of net zero by 2050 is met.

Chris Skidmore: The UK has a good track record in energy efficiency. In the latest International Energy Efficiency Scorecard[1], the UK is ranked 4th in the world and scores very highly on buildings. Since 1990 we have improved the energy efficiency of non-domestic buildings, including public sector buildings, with respective emissions 18 per cent[2] and 40 per cent[3] lower in 2015. Building energy efficiency policy forms a key part of our Clean Growth Strategy where we have set ambitious targets for non-domestic buildings:Non-domestic buildings are targeted as part of our commitment to reduce business energy use by 20% by 2030. Various schemes are in place for businesses to improve their energy use such as the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS),and the Boosting Access for SMEs to Energy Efficiency (BASEE) and the Non-Domestic Smart Energy Management innovation competitions.We already have regulations in place that set minimum energy performance standards for buildings in the private rented sector. A building is required to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) band E or better before being let. We are working to further tighten the minimum standards to deliver additional energy and carbon savings in the non-domestic sector.We will look to take similar steps across the non-domestic owner occupier and new build stock. As part of that process, my Department is working with MHCLG to identify opportunities for driving further energy efficiency improvements in new and existing buildings through a consultation on Part L of the Building Regulations this year.Following the launch of the Buildings Mission, we have commissioned research to understand how to halve the energy use of new buildings by 2030 and to halve the cost of retrofitting existing buildings to the same standard in the same timeframe.By 2025 the government will introduce a Future Homes Standard for new build homes to be future-proofed with low carbon heating and world leading levels of energy efficiency, to create healthy homes that are fit for the future, have low energy bills, and are better for the environment. We will provide additional details of the planned introduction of the Future Homes Standard within the 2019 consultation on the energy efficiency standards of the Building Regulations.We have committed to introduce a new scheme to help small businesses to improve the way they use energy and help them save money on their bills and reduce carbon emissions.In response to a recommendation from the Green Finance Taskforce, we are working with partners to determine the steps necessary for landlords and businesses to understand and, potentially disclose operational energy use. This will not only help businesses reduce their energy use in the existing stock but will also be a key enabler in delivering the Buildings Mission.We’re supporting a range of energy measures in public buildings through the Public Sector Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme. This funding, managed by Salix Finance, has delivered over 17,000 projects to date, improving energy performance in a range of buildings including schools and hospitals.Progress will be kept under review to ensure we achieve net zero by 2050 and consider what further action will be required across sectors to deliver this.[1] ACEE, ‘The 2018 International Energy Efficiency Scorecard’, 2018 https://aceee.org/research-report/i1801[2] BEIS (2017) Final UK greenhouse gas emissions national statistics: 1990-2015 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/final-uk-greenhouse-gas-emissions-national-statistics-1990-2015[3] Compared to 2015 levels. Sustainable Development Unit (2016) Sustainable Development in Health and Care Report – Health Check 2016 https://www.sduhealth.org.uk/policy-strategy/reporting/sustainable-development-in-health-and-care-report-2016.aspx

Energy: Housing

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to pages 141 and 142 of the report entitled, Net Zero, published by the Committee on Climate Change in May 2019, what steps he plans to take to (a) extend and (b) strengthen plans to improve energy efficiency in homes.

Chris Skidmore: Homes in the UK represent 15% of carbon emissions and meeting the previous 2050 target would require largely eliminating emissions from our housing stock. With the Government’s new legally binding target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across the UK economy by 2050, our current and future actions to encourage home energy efficiency have become all the more crucial.Through the Energy Company Obligation, we have supported energy efficiency improvements to over 2 million homes since 2013, and in April 2018 introduced regulations setting minimum energy efficiency standards for privately rented homes. We have committed to extend support for energy efficiency out to 2028, driving more than £6 billion of investment in domestic energy efficiency over the next ten years.In the Clean Growth Strategy we set out our aspiration for as many homes as possible to achieve EPC Band C where cost effective, affordable and practical by 2035. This provides a good basis for net zero, providing a cost-effective level of energy efficiency to provide the basis for decarbonisation of heating systems.In order to meet this aspiration, we are working to build a vibrant and sustainable market for energy efficiency through introducing a suite of mutually supporting policies and measures that will drive uptake of energy efficiency amongst homeowners. These policies have been informed in part to responses we received to the 2017 Building a Market for Energy Efficiency Call for Evidence and the recently published Green Finance strategy sets out some of our current and future actions in this area.By 2025 the Government will also introduce a Future Homes Standard for new build homes to be future-proofed with low carbon heating and world leading levels of energy efficiency, to create healthy homes that are fit for the future, have low energy bills, and are better for the environment. We will provide additional details of the planned introduction of the Future Homes Standard within the 2019 consultation on the energy efficiency standards of the Building Regulations.

Business: Carbon Emissions

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 26 June 2019 to Question 266628 on Business: Carbon Emissions, if will he publish the names of the (a) businesses and (b) business organisations that have set targets to achieve net zero by (a) 2030 and (b) a date earlier than 2050.

Chris Skidmore: The Department does not maintain a central record of businesses and business organisations that have set targets to achieve net zero. The business community will have an important role to play in meeting our net zero target, and we welcome commitments from businesses to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.We are engaging closely with businesses – including as part of our second ‘Green GB & NI Week’, which will be launched on 4th November. This will be a week of events and activity where government, businesses, academia and civil society will come together to explore how clean growth will change our futures and how we can contribute to action on climate change. This builds on last year’s successful campaign, which saw over 100 events held across the country, and more than 60 businesses making significant pledges worth millions to cut emissions while continuing to grow the green economy.More information on Green GB & NI week 2019, what happened during Green GB & NI week 2018 and how different groups can get involved, can be found on the website: https://greengb.campaign.gov.uk/

Green Deal Scheme: Universal Credit

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many households with active green deals are in receipt of universal credit.

Chris Skidmore: The Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy does not hold information on how many households with live Green Deal plans are in receipt of Universal Credit.

Heating: Housing

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to promote the installation of heat pumps in domestic properties.

Chris Skidmore: Heat pumps have an important role to play in decarbonising heat in our homes and businesses. The government is committed to supporting the growth of the UK heat pump industry and through the Renewable Heat Incentive we are spending £2.8bn between 2018 and 2021 to support innovative low carbon heat technologies in homes and businesses, including heat pumps.By 2025 the Government will introduce a Future Homes Standard for new build homes to be future-proofed with low carbon heating and world leading levels of energy efficiency, to create healthy homes that are fit for the future, have low energy bills, and are better for the environment. The Future Homes Standard will be implemented through an uplift to the Building Regulations, subject to consultation. We will expand on the technical detail of these proposals during the 2019 Part L consultation.BEIS is considering the future policy framework for supporting electrification of heat and we are looking to launch an electrification of heat demonstration project in 2019 to inform further our thinking on the feasibility of a large-scale transition to heat pumps.

Heating: Housing

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he (a) is taking and (b) plans to take to require that the flow temperature of new heating systems in domestic properties is no more than 55 degrees C.

Chris Skidmore: The Government has gathered evidence on this point through its 2017 Boiler Plus consultation and continues to engage with heating installers on the development of possible future standards. We intend to consult on regulatory options for heat in buildings and will consider installation standards for low carbon heating as part of that consultation.

Sharing Economy

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to support contracting and the flexible economy.

Kelly Tolhurst: Through our Good Work Plan reforms this Government is delivering the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation, and working to ensure that the UK labour market strikes the balance between flexibility and worker protections.We have already taken significant steps to ensure that the UK's flexible economy works for all, We have passed legislation that means almost 300,000 workers, including people on casual or flexible hours contracts, will have a right to a payslip for the first time. This helps workers in the flexible economy to better understand their pay and identify if their employer is not meeting their minimum pay obligations.We have quadrupled the penalty that Employment Tribunals can use where employers have shown malice, spite or gross oversight. This reform acts as an important deterrent against poor employment practices and is an important measure to protect the rights of those working in our flexible economy.We have also helped agency workers by abolishing the Swedish Derogation, removing a legal loophole to secure equal pay for up to 120,000 agency workers.

Russia: Natural Gas

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make it Government policy to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2 in accordance with the recommendations of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.

Chris Skidmore: This Government has significant concerns about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and we continue to raise this important issue in discussions with key partners. We judge that it is not necessary to meet future European demand for gas and could harm European energy security and the interests of Ukraine. This is one of the reasons why we supported amendments to the EU Gas Directive that will require the pipeline to be fully compliant with EU rules. While we are an EU member state, the UK will continue to be bound by EU sanctions, which do not currently encompass Nord Stream 2.

Redundancy Pay

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has plans to reduce the minimum time served as an employee before entitlement to statutory redundancy pay begins.

Kelly Tolhurst: The two-year qualifying period for entitlement to statutory redundancy pay strikes the balance between providing fairness to employees who have demonstrated commitment to their employer and avoiding undue financial burdens on employers or the National Insurance Fund.  The statutory redundancy scheme is intended to provide a minimum “safety net” of entitlement for vulnerable employees, and the legislation leaves the parties free to negotiate and agree improvements on the statutory entitlement according to their own priorities, needs and circumstances, and what can be afforded.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Libya: Freezing of Assets

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, when his Department first became aware that HM Treasury had received tax receipts derived from the interest on frozen Libyan assets held in UK banks; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is the Government's long-standing policy that designated persons are not exempt from tax as a consequence of having their assets frozen. The Government's response of 24 June to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee report (into Government support for UK victims of IRA attacks that used Qadhafi-supplied Semtex and weapons) set out the releasable information the Government has about tax receipts derived from the interest on frozen Libyan assets held in UK banks. The Government's response says:"As stated in the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation's letter to the Committee of 23 April 2019, OFSI's responsibilities do not include tracking tax liabilities on frozen assets. HMRC, as the department responsible for safeguarding the flow of money to the Exchequer is responsible for any records of tax liability. HMRC has reconsidered how we can help the Committee within the legal constraints governing our ability to share information. We have concluded that we can use aggregated information to answer the Committee's questions, provided that information cannot be tied back to individual persons or companies as a result. HMRC receives payments of tax from a small proportion of the entities designated under the Libyan regime. Around £17 million has been received in total since the start of the 2016-17 tax year. HMRC currently receives around £5 million each year."

Syria: Conflict Resolution

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps the Government is taking to support a peaceful conclusion to the conflict in Syria.

Dr Andrew Murrison: ​The British Government continues to believe that only a negotiated political settlement will end the Syria conflict, as we reiterated at the UN Security Council on 27 June. We fully support the efforts to this end of the UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, who the Foreign Secretary hosted in London in March. The UK Special Envoy for Syria discussed the situation with Mr Pedersen and international counterparts from the Syria Small Group on 23 June. We are also using our role at the UN Security Council to put pressure on the regime and Russia to end their ongoing offensive in Idlib.

USA: Iran

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support a diplomatic resolution to the stand-off between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We are concerned by the risk of unintended escalation between the United States and Iran. We are also concerned by the potential of further tension as a result of the failure of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. We continue to call on the US to preserve the gains that the Iran nuclear deal has brought, avoiding actions that would prevent the remaining parties from meeting their commitments to uphold the deal. We remain in close co-ordination with international partners to find diplomatic solutions to de-escalate tensions, and specifically advising Iran – using our diplomatic relationship – that escalation is not in their interest,as I did during my Tehran visit in June.

China: Prisoners

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for bilaterial relations of the report of the people's tribunal into forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China.

Dr Andrew Murrison: We have noted the recent report by the pressure group “The International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China”. Officials attended public hearings organised by the group, and its report is one of a number of sources of information that we are taking into account when considering this issue. We have also recently consulted the World Health Organization (WHO) in both Geneva and Beijing. Their view is that China is implementing an ethical, voluntary organ transplant system in accordance with international standards, though they do have concerns about overall transparency. At present, our assessment remains that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China. There is, however, credible evidence that practitioners of Falun Gong are subjected to serious mistreatment. Our relationship with China is robust enough for us to raise concerns when we need to, including on the extensive use of the death penalty and the treatment of religious and ethnic minorities in China. We continue to keep this issue under review.

USA: Detention Centres

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his US counterpart on (a) the human rights of (i) children and (ii) others held without provision of (A) soap, (B) toothbrushes and (C) beds in the US-run border detention centres on the US-Mexican border and (b) closing those centres; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to his US counterpart on publishing the number of children who are being held in US-run detention centres on the US-Mexican border.

Sir Alan Duncan: We are aware of recent concerning reports describing conditions for children in US detention facilities. The US Congress passed a Bill on 27 June providing emergency funding, including humanitarian support, in part to help address those conditions. We will continue to monitor the situation, though immigration policy in the US is of course a matter for the US Government, just as immigration policy in the UK is decided by the British Government.

Northern Cyprus: Cultural Heritage

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the conservation of Christian heritage in the Turkish controlled part of Cyprus.

Sir Alan Duncan: The UK provides funding for the Technical Committee on Cultural Heritage through our membership of the European Union. The committee was created under the auspices of the United Nations and works to promote and protect the cultural heritage of the island of Cyprus. This includes the preservation of religious sites in the north of Cyprus.

Department for Exiting the European Union

GATT

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the EU chief negotiator has stated that the EU is willing to agree to the implementation of Article XXIV of the GATT in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

James Cleverly: No such assurances have been sought from the EU, for a scenario where the UK leaves the EU without a deal, as the Government remains committed to seeking an agreement. The Government and the European Commission have been clear that our ​trading relationship must comply with WTO rules. GATT Article XXIV is the provision which allows WTO members to form free trade areas or customs unions, or to adopt an interim agreement necessary for the formation of a customs union or of a free trade area. It relates solely to trade in goods. Any preferential arrangement between the UK and EU under Article XXIV - whether temporary or permanent - requires the mutual agreement of both parties.

Department of Health and Social Care

Alcoholic Drinks: Scotland

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the introduction of minimum unit pricing of alcohol in Scotland on the level of alcohol consumption in Scotland.

Seema Kennedy: No assessment has been made. NHS Scotland publishes annual reports on the impact of the Scottish Government’s alcohol strategy, a core element of which is minimum unit pricing. However, the Scottish Government will not publish its statutory report on the impact of minimum unit pricing (MUP) until five years post-implementation of the legislation, in 2023. The Government shall monitor the impact of MUP as robust evidence emerges.

Health Services: British Nationals Abroad

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the provision of healthcare for UK citizens in the EU of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Stephen Hammond: Under current European Union-based entitlements, the United Kingdom pays for the healthcare costs of 180,000 UK nationals, mostly pensioners, in health systems across the EU. There are around 50 million UK tourist visits to the EU annually; the European Healthcare Insurance Card (EHIC) is used in around 0.5% of these visits. Moreover, approximately 50,000 posted workers are protected through the current arrangements.The UK Government has proposed to EU Member States that, in a no-deal scenario, we should maintain the existing healthcare arrangements until 31 December 2020, with the aim of minimising disruption to UK nationals’ and EU citizens’ healthcare provision. The UK Government is working to put in place bilateral agreements with Member States to protect existing healthcare arrangements for UK nationals beyond exit day. For UK nationals that live in EU Member States, the UK cannot unilaterally guarantee the continuation of current arrangements, as this depends on decisions by Member States.EU Member States such as Spain have made public commitments that they will enable resident UK nationals and visitors to access healthcare in the same way they do now, and we hope to reach such agreements with all Member States.Although we are hopeful that we can agree reciprocal healthcare arrangements, as a responsible Government we have developed a multi-layered approach to minimise disruption to healthcare provision to UK nationals currently in or travelling to the EU Member States.The UK Government has committed to fund healthcare for UK nationals (and others for whom the UK is responsible) who have applied for, or are undergoing, treatments in the EU prior to and on exit day, for up to one year, to protect the most vulnerable.Individuals are always responsible for ensuring they have sufficient healthcare insurance. Anyone who is living, working or studying in EU Member States should check the country specific guidance on GOV.UK and NHS.UK for updates.

Mental Health Services: Veterans

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that veterans with mental health problems receive the treatment they need.

Jackie Doyle-Price: As part of the Government’s continued commitment to the Armed Forces Covenant, veterans are able to access National Health Service-provided mainstream and bespoke evidence-based mental health services.The NHS in England has developed two bespoke veterans’ services; the Transition, Intervention and Liaison Service, which supports serving personnel who need additional mental health support as they are leaving the Armed Forces and veterans who have mental health issues; and the Complex Treatment Service, that has been designed to support veterans with complex mental health issues, not limited to post-traumatic stress disorder, that have not improved with previous treatment.In December last year, NHS England announced an extra £10 million to expand these services and seek ways to close the gaps in current mental health provision to meet the needs of those individuals that are nearing crisis. This expansion will increase capacity and help to ensure that specialist health support for veterans is available across a wider geographical area, helping many more vulnerable ex-Service Personnel, families and those in the criminal justice system.

Public Health: Hertfordshire

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to (a) improve the quality of and (b) increase access to public health care in (i) Stevenage and (ii) Hertfordshire.

Seema Kennedy: Local authorities are responsible for assessing the public health needs of their local population, developing public health strategies and commissioning services to improve the health of their populations.Local authorities have responsibility for the commissioning of public health services such as sexual health, stop smoking, drug and alcohol services and the NHS Health Check. Public Health England supports local authorities to do this through the provision of national public health campaigns, public health intelligence, evidence-based advice and guidance on what works in practice, commissioning support packs and service assessment and quality improvement frameworks.At a local level, Public Health England East of England supports local authorities through a series of commissioner networks that share good practice, support sector led improvement and effective service delivery.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on Government expenditure on mental health provision for children and young people (a) under the age of 18; (b) from 18 to 25 years old in 2018-19.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Information on spend on mental health provision for children and young people aged 0-25, by clinical commissioning group (CCG), is published by NHS England in the Mental Health Five Year Forward View Dashboard.NHS England also publishes spend on specialised commissioning on mental health provision for children and young people.For 2018/19, the latest figures show planned expenditure by CCGs of £727 million and for specialised commissioning planned expenditure of £376 million.These figures do not distinguish between those aged under the age of 18 and those aged 18 years to 25 years old.

Out-patients: Attendance

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS appointments have been missed in each of the last five years.

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the annual cost to the public purse was of missed NHS appointments in each of the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: Data for missed outpatient appointments in the years 2013-14 to 2017-18 is provided in the following table. This is a count of appointments, not people, as the same person may have had more than one appointment within the same time period:YearTotal number of appointmentsDid not attends (DNAs)DNA’s as a % of total appointments2013-14101,844,8247,095,8397.0%2014-15107,188,4237,442,9496.9%2015-16113,298,6617,519,8296.6%2016-17118,578,9127,938,0096.7%2017-18119,378,8957,984,1836.7%Source: Hospital Episode Statistics – NHS DigitalInformation surrounding the cost of missed hospital appointments is not collected or held centrally.

Junior Doctors: Working Hours

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential benefit to the welfare of doctors of limiting the number of night shifts a junior doctor can work in a month.

Stephen Hammond: The junior doctors’ contract introduced in 2016 included measures aimed at improving the wellbeing of the junior doctor workforce including new, stronger limits on working hours and patterns. These included reducing the maximum number of consecutive nights shifts to four (down from seven) and ensuring at least 46 hours rest at the end of a run of three or four consecutive nights.A joint review of the effectiveness of the contract has now been concluded by the British Medical Association (BMA) and NHS Employers which has resulted in even more robust safety and rest limits; for example, a rest period of 46 hours will be applied following any number of rostered night shifts. The BMA and NHS Employers have also agreed good rostering guidance that emphasises the need to have a balanced rota cycle with different types of shifts, including night shifts, evenly distributed to manage fatigue.A junior doctors’ work schedule is designed to meet their training needs and this also, in practice, limits the number of night shifts they are expected to complete (as training usually takes place during the day time).

Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that ensure that patients diagnosed with eating disorders begin treatment within four weeks.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is aware of the importance of early intervention when treating people with an eating disorder and we recognise that the earlier treatment is provided, the greater the chance of recovery.The Government set up the first ever waiting time standards to improve access to eating disorder services for children and young people, supported by £30 million a year to develop 70 new or extended community eating disorder services across the country. These have improved access to effective eating disorder treatment in the community, with the number of children and young people accessing treatment increasing from 5,243 in 2016/17 to 6,867 in 2017/18.NHS England is on track to deliver the waiting time standard for children and young people by 2020/21 and as need continues to rise, extra investment will allow us to maintain delivery of the standard beyond 2020/21.The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to test four-week waiting times for adult and older adult community mental health teams, with selected local areas that will include eating disorders. This will form part of the overall testing of new models of primary and community mental health care in 2019/20 and 2020/21.

Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the average time people waited to begin treatment for eating disorders in 2018-19.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Waiting times standards for eating disorder treatment are currently only available for children and young people. NHS England is on track to deliver the waiting time standard for children and young people by 2020/21. The latest available information (January – March 2019) shows:- 80.6% of young people started treatment for an urgent case within one week against a target of 95% by 2020/21; and- 82.4% of young people started treatment for a routine case within four weeks against a target of 95% by 2020/21.The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to test four-week waiting times for adult and older adult community mental health teams, with selected local areas that will include eating disorders. We are also investing in new models of care focusing on early intervention and prevention which will ultimately reduce the need for inpatient beds and ensure that people receive treatment in the most appropriate place. By improving care in the community, we can improve outcomes and recovery, reduce rates of relapse or prevent eating disorders continuing into adulthood and, if admission is required as a very last resort, reduce lengths of stay.

Eating Disorders: Mental Health Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of early intervention services to treat eating disorders before patients are hospitalised.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published its guideline on ‘Eating disorders: recognition and treatment (NG69)’ on May 2017 based on the evidence available. These highlight the importance of assessing and treating eating disorders at the earliest opportunity.The Government set up the first ever waiting time standards to improve access to eating disorder services for children and young people, supported by £30 million a year to develop 70 new or extended community eating disorder services across the country.NHS England is on track to deliver the four-week waiting time standard for children and young people by 2020/21 and, as need continues to rise, extra investment will allow us to maintain delivery of the standard beyond 2020/21.The NHS Long Term Plan has committed to testing four-week waiting times for adult and older adult community mental health teams, with selected local areas that will include eating disorders. This will form part of the overall testing of new models of primary and community mental health care between 2019/20 and 2020/21.

General Practitioners

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the (a) adequacy of the number of GPs in the UK per capita, (b) time it takes to obtain an appointment and (c) amount of time GPs spend with patients.

Seema Kennedy: Health is a devolved matter. As such, the answer refers to England only. There is no recommendation for how many patients a general practitioner (GP) should have as the demand each patient places on their GP is different and can be affected by various factors, including rurality and patient demographics. When considering the ratio of GPs to patients it is important to consider GPs as part of the wider multidisciplinary team. Getting the skills mix right in general practice is critical in addressing workload pressures as well as in delivering appropriate patient care. NHS England has committed to providing funding towards up to 20,000 additional staff by 2023/24. The Government has committed to growing the workforce by 5,000 additional full time equivalent doctors in English general practice as soon as possible. NHS England and Health Education England are working together with the profession to increase the GP workforce. This includes measures to boost recruitment, address the reasons why GPs are leaving the profession and encourage GPs to return to practice. The national data for time between booking an appointment with a general practice and having the appointment in days is attached. A 12-month average from June 2018 - May 2019 has also been presented. NHS Digital’s ‘Appointments in General Practice’ data is published monthly with a two-month time lag. The appointments data does not differentiate between emergency and routine appointments in general practice and the ‘time from booking to appointment’ does not take into consideration that many patients will be appropriately booking ahead as part of the continuity of care they receive for long-term conditions. The data on GP appointments are from a new data collection and are still experimental therefore the data and collection method are still being refined and improved. Whilst these early datasets published by NHS Digital do not yet represent a comprehensive picture, they are an important key step in understanding pressures on primary care. NHS England, NHS Digital and the Government are working closely with GPs to understand how the data on GP appointments can be refined to improve the overall picture of primary care activity. The average GP consultation time with a patient is determined by each practice, depending on the needs and demands of their patient list. The amount of time GPs spend with their patients is not collected or held centrally.



GP Table. June 2018-May 2019 England
(Word Document, 20.67 KB)

Medical Treatments Abroad: British Nationals Abroad

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many UK citizens residing in the EU receive free healthcare under the S1 scheme.

Stephen Hammond: As at 26 June 2019, there were 151,529 United Kingdom-insured people residing in a European Union country, excluding Ireland, who had an active registered entitlement under the S1 scheme and are eligible for UK-funded healthcare. As S1 certificates are not issued for Ireland, the exact number of people receiving UK-funded healthcare within the EU is not held by the Government or its arm’s length bodies.

Medical Treatments Abroad: British Nationals Abroad

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps UK citizens visiting Spain and Portugal will have to take to prove that they are entitled to healthcare under the bilateral agreements on healthcare rights for UK citizens in the event that the UK leaves the EU without an agreement.

Stephen Hammond: The Government of Spain has offered to continue to maintain the existing arrangements for reciprocal healthcare in the event that the United Kingdom leaves the European Union without a deal. This includes access to treatment that becomes necessary during the course of a visit to Spain. This means that in Spain, UK-issued European Health Insurance Cards (EHICs) or the equivalent would continue to be accepted as proof of UK cover in a ‘no deal’ scenario. The UK EHIC or its equivalent would need to be presented with a valid passport. It is important to note that UK EHICs will be accepted in Spain for 21 months after EU exit. The Government of Portugal’s ‘no deal’ unilateral offer is only extended to UK nationals. This means that other nationals, including EU citizens, resident in the UK who presently enjoy UK EHIC cover would be fully charged for accessing public healthcare when they visit Portugal. Only UK passports, and not UK EHICs, would be accepted as providing proof of UK cover. The unilateral offer covers the period from exit day until 31 December 2020.

Autism and Learning Disability: Newcastle-under-Lyme

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an estimate of the number of people in the Newcastle-under-Lyme constituency with (a) learning disabilities and (b) autism who have been in an Assessment and Treatment Unit for three months or longer; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The information is not available in the format requested.

Japan: Human Papillomavirus

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what representations he has made to his Japanese counterpart to encourage the Japanese government to re-establish its HPV vaccination programme.

Seema Kennedy: No ministerial representations have been made to the Japanese government in relation to its human papillomavirus vaccination programme, but we promote the benefits of immunisation in all relevant interactions with partners both nationally and internationally.

Human Papillomavirus: Vaccination

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the uptake of the HPV vaccination in each of the constituent parts of the UK since that vaccination programme began.

Seema Kennedy: Health is a devolved matter and we can only provide data for England. The United Kingdom human papillomavirus immunisation programme began in 2008/09, with a three-dose schedule. In 2013/14, the UK moved to a two-dose schedule.Public Health England collects annual coverage data for England, available to view at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vaccine-uptake#hpv-vaccine-uptakeCoverage for the three-dose schedule (2008/09–2013/14) can be seen at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/774074/HPV_Vaccine_Coverage_in_England_200809_to_201314.pdf

Hospitals: Cleaning Services and Food

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will conduct a review of hospital (a) food and (b) cleaning contracts to assess the potential merits of bringing those services in-house to improve (i) food standards and (ii) infection control in NHS England hospitals.

Stephen Hammond: National Health Service trusts make decisions locally on how the services needed to run their hospitals are delivered. This will be based on their service needs and their local environment, including taking into account the locations, types and economics of how these services can be procured and run. All organisations regardless of whether they are outsourced, or in-house teams are required to follow the same National Cleaning Standards and the five Core Standards for Hospital Food.A review of NHS food was announced on 17 June 2019, and this will include how bringing the provision of food services in-house could improve quality and value for money.

NHS: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Answer of 26 June 2019 to Question 266189 NHS: Debts and with reference to NHS Improvement’s Quarterly performance of the NHS provider sector: quarter 2 2018/19, what assessment his Department has made of the validity of NHS Improvement’s statement that the Provider Sustainability Fund is non-recurrent funding; and what estimate he has made of the level of growth in the Provider Sustainability Fund in each of the next five years.

Stephen Hammond: Funding that is made available through the Provider Sustainability Fund is a recurrent part of the NHS Long Term Plan funding settlement. The way in which the funding is being deployed is however changing and this means it is non-recurrent at the level of individual providers. For example, there has been a £1.2 billion reduction in the Fund in 2019-20, but this remains available to the National Health Service and has been transferred to urgent and emergency care tariff prices and the Financial Recovery Fund. NHS England and NHS Improvement have set out in this year’s NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance that their ambition is that this will be the last year of Provider Sustainability Funding.

Mental Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential link between mental well-being and the risk of developing physical illnesses.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We recognise that people living with severe mental illness (SMI) are at greater risk of physical illness and face one of the greatest inequality gaps in England with life expectancy 15-20 years lower than the general population.To help address this disparity in health outcomes, in 2016, in the Five Year Forward View Mental Health, NHS England committed to leading work to ensure that, by 2020/21, 280,000 people living with SMI have their physical health needs met by increasing early detection and expanding access to evidence-based physical care assessments and interventions each year.In the NHS Long Term Plan, NHS England committed to building on this ambition so that the number of people receiving physical health checks will further increase, by 2023/24, to an additional 110,000 people per year, bringing the total to 390,000 checks delivered each year.

Department for International Development

Yemen: World Food Programme

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what discussions he has had with representatives of the World Food Programme on the suspension of aid in Sana’a and other areas where aid is at risk of diversion.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The International Development Secretary and I met with David Beasley, Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), on Thursday 20 June to discuss WFP’s partial suspension of operations in Yemen. I also had a telephone call with David Beasley on Thursday 6 June to discuss the issue, and UK officials have engaged closely with WFP throughout recent months, including through the WFP Executive Board. These discussions are ongoing. For the sake of Yemenis in desperate need, we call on the Houthis to immediately end all restrictions on aid agencies and comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2451 by allowing safe, rapid, and unhindered access for the humanitarian response and commercial supplies. The Houthis must cooperate with WFP and end their interference.

Yemen: World Food Programme

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support he is providing to the World Food Programme to (a) import equipment into Yemen and (b) secure visas for that country its staff without delay.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK continues to call on all parties to comply with the UN Security Council Resolution 2451 by supporting the unhindered flow of humanitarian supplies and personnel into and across Yemen. This includes the entry of relevant humanitarian equipment as well as the swift issuing of visas to humanitarian workers. We regularly raise these points directly with all parties, including at the highest levels. In addition to our £35 million of support to the World Food Programme this financial year (2019/20), UK aid is also supporting the UN Humanitarian Air Service (which is administered by WFP) to improve access for humanitarian workers across the country.

Yemen: World Food Programme

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what support his Department is providing to the World Food Programme to operate in Government-controlled areas in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK government is providing the World Food Programme (WFP) with £35 million in support of their work in Yemen this financial year (2019/20). Our funding provides cash and vouchers to meet the immediate food needs of more than one million Yemenis every month across the country, including Government-controlled areas. The UK’s total commitment to Yemen since the conflict began in 2015 is £770 million. Approximately £171 million of this has been used to support WFP’s response to vulnerable people in need.

Yemen: Pollution Control

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to prevent pollution from the transport of barrels of oil along the coast of Hodeidah.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK remains concerned by the environmental risk posed by the by the Safer oil tanker, currently moored off Hodeidah. As Sir Mark Lowcock, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, recently remarked to the UN Security Council, if the tanker ruptures or explodes it could cause a ‘disaster’ for the environment, shipping lanes and global economy. The UK continues to engage with the UN and Saudi Arabia on the issue, following Saudi Arabia’s funding of a UN assessment mission. The UK calls on the Houthis to facilitate safe and rapid access to the Safer oil tanker so that the UN can carry out this vital work.

Yemen: International Assistance

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to help tackle the level of bureaucracy that impedes the operations of UN agencies and other international organisations in Yemen.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK is deeply concerned by ongoing bureaucratic obstructions to the humanitarian response in Yemen, including delays and rejections to visa applications, the issuing of travel permits for periods shorter than required, and inconsistent processes for obtaining project permits. The 2018 and 2019 UN Panel of Experts reports concluded that Houthi authorities routinely obstruct humanitarian access throughout northern Yemen. We regularly raise obstructions to humanitarian access with all parties, including at the highest levels. The UK also calls on all parties to comply with the UN Security Council Resolution 2451 and support the unhindered flow of humanitarian supplies and personnel into and across Yemen.

Developing Countries: Antivenom

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of work to support the distribution of snake anti-venom products in developing countries; and whether his Department supports any such project.

Harriett Baldwin: Each year snakebites kill more than 80,000 people and at least 450,000 people are thought to suffer life-changing injuries such as loss of limbs and permanent disability.There are major technical challenges for the production and distribution of anti-venoms in low- and middle-income countries, including lack of quality anti-venoms, high cost of anti-venoms, poor regulation, poor distribution policies and marketing of inappropriate or poor-quality anti-venoms.DFID recently launched a £9 million Research programme to develop new snakebite treatments which will be effective against multiple species, affordable, stable in tropical temperatures and easy to use in local communities, to overcome some of the distribution challenges.

Rain Forests: Conservation

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps his Department is taking to (a) protect old-growth rainforests and (b) support the communities that live in them.

Harriett Baldwin: Stopping deforestation is essential to protect biodiversity, tackle climate change and promote sustainable economic development. DFID works to address the underlying causes of deforestation, such as stopping illegal logging and related corruption, ending unsustainable practices in the production of palm oil, cocoa and other agricultural commodities, and helping local communities to secure recognised legal rights to the forests which they depend on for their livelihoods.For example, support to the Mapping for Rights initiative has helped over 1,000 communities in the Congo Basin map their forest lands covering more than seven million hectares. The communities use these maps as the basis for claims to secure their rights and to help ensure that the forests they depend on are not allocated to logging concessions.Work to tackle deforestation is funded through the Forest Governance, Markets and Climate programme (£250m, 2011-21), which is tackling illegal logging and promoting trade in legal timber and Investments in Forests and Sustainable Land Use (£107m, 2015-23), through which DFID funds Partnerships for Forests (P4F). P4F works with companies to develop new and sustainable approaches to growing agricultural commodities, which protect forests and provide sustainable livelihoods. DFID also funds work to protect forests through the Indonesia country programme.

Developing Countries: Human Papillomavirus

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps the Government is taking to support the establishment of HPV vaccination programmes in developing countries.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK supports HPV vaccination programmes in developing countries through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. As Gavi’s largest donor, the UK was a vocal advocate for inclusion of the HPV vaccine within its portfolio to help protect the most vulnerable girls from the leading cause of cervical cancer. Through Gavi support, 30 developing countries have taken their first steps toward HPV roll out with the aim of vaccinating 40 million girls by 2020. Affordability and high demand are also important considerations to enabling HPV vaccination programmes to be introduced. Gavi is helping overcome these by negotiating price reductions of the HPV vaccine to make it more affordable for poorer countries and by working with civil society in local communities to promote the benefits of the vaccine. The 2017 World Health Assembly Global Call for Action to eliminate cervical cancer has brought widespread attention on the importance of HPV. In anticipation of high global demand, the UK has encouraged Gavi to continue to bring in new vaccine manufacturers to support increased demand and to prioritise availability for the world’s poorest people.

Department for Education

Department for Education: Standards

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what standards his Department uses to set acceptable levels of (a) vibration, (b) noise and (c) dust and air quality in construction projects funded by his Department; and when those applicable standards were (i) set and (ii) last reviewed.

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the construction of Ealing Fields High school, what his Department's policy is on provision of compensation for (a) structural and (b) non-structural damage caused by construction of Departmental projects.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 27 June 2019



Bowmer and Kirkland, the relevant contractor, is responsible for the safe construction of Ealing Fields High School. The Department does not adopt a compensation policy for any damage caused by construction works as any such responsibility rests with the contractor. In the case of Ealing Fields, the Department is aware that Bowmer and Kirkland has been in regular contact with residents about addressing their concerns.When procuring capital projects, the Department applies a comprehensive framework which sets out relevant legislation, British Standards, codes of practice and other requirements that a building contractor is required to comply with when undertaking projects on behalf of the Department. These standards were established in November 2017 when the Department’s most recent construction framework was procured.The Department is increasing the number of schools built through modern methods of construction. This method provides the opportunity to reduce site times by up to 50% which would also reduce both disruption to pupils and staff, and the noise and dust associated with onsite construction.The Department has built 57 schools using modern methods of construction and this financial year, we plan to open another 21 schools. The department has announced a new procurement framework with a value of up to £3 billion for modern methods of construction solutions in schools. This framework is due to go live by November 2019.

Universities: Antisemitism

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what monitoring is taking place on university campuses to ensure compliance with the International Holocaust Remembrance Association definition of anti-semitism.

Chris Skidmore: There is no place in our society, including within higher education, for hatred or any form of discrimination or racism, such as antisemitism. This is why I have called on higher education providers to accept the International Holocaust Remembrance Association (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism. Higher education providers are autonomous organisations, responsible for the management of their own internal affairs. They should discharge their responsibilities fully and have robust policies and procedures in place to comply with the law, and to investigate and swiftly address all hate crime, including any antisemitic incidents that are reported. On 16 May 2019, I wrote to all higher education providers to urge them to consider adopting the IHRA definition and set out my view that this is a useful tool which will help front-line services better understand and recognise instances of antisemitism. The government believes that adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism sends a clear message that antisemitic behaviour will not be tolerated, and that any instances of antisemitism will be taken very seriously.

Schools: Counselling

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Research and analysis entitled, Supporting mental health in schools and colleges conducted by his Department, what steps the Government has taken to increase the provision of counselling services in schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department recognises that school-based counselling by well-qualified practitioners can play an effective role as part of a ‘whole school’ approach to supporting mental health and wellbeing. The ‘Supporting mental health in schools and colleges’ research indicated that 61% of schools offer counselling services, with 84% of secondary schools providing their pupils with access to counselling support.[1]It is for schools to decide what support to provide to their pupils, including how to draw on counselling provision made locally, for instance by local authorities and the voluntary and community sector. To help more schools to do so effectively, the Government has published advice on how to deliver high quality school-based counselling.The Government is also introducing the new mental health support teams linked to groups of schools and colleges to provide additional mental health support for pupils with mild or moderate issues. The first 59 teams are being set up in 25 areas of the country and will be fully operational at the end of this year. The aim is for these teams to work together with existing provision, including school-based counselling. The Government will evaluate their introduction to ensure that they do not displace existing provision. [1] https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/634726/Supporting_Mental-Health_survey_report.pdf

Schools: Yorkshire and the Humber

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that schools in Yorkshire and the Humber achieve the England average for the number of Ofsted schools ranked good.

Nick Gibb: Ofsted’s latest published data to 31 May 2019 shows that 80% of schools in Yorkshire and Humber have an Ofsted rating of good or better compared with the England average of 85%. This data can be accessed here:www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/monthly-management-information-ofsteds-school-inspections-outcomes.For the academic year 2018-19 where schools may need additional support, the Department has offered up to three days’ funded support from a national leader of education (or equivalent) to schools below the floor or coasting standards based on its 2017-18 results. This centred on helping the existing leadership team to identify and access appropriate support, with an additional £16,000 for schools that have two consecutive requires improvement judgements to implement an action plan. As at April 2019, 139 schools in Yorkshire and Humber were engaging with this offer.In addition, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has confirmed that from academic year 2019-20, the Department will make an offer of support to all requires improvement schools not already benefitting from the current offer, to ensure that their leadership teams can access the support they need to improve.The published 'Schools Causing Concern' guidance sets out how local authorities and Regional Schools Commissioners (RSC's) work with schools to support improvements to educational performance and how they can use their intervention powers. This guidance can be found here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-causing-concern--2.Local authorities are responsible for the performance of maintained schools. RSCs acting on behalf of my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, are responsible for taking action where academies and free schools are underperforming. RSCs work closely with academy trusts to ensure that strong processes are in place to maintain and improve educational performance, including using their intervention powers where there is an inadequate Ofsted judgement.

Further Education: Low Incomes

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what funding his Department has allocated to further education colleges in low-income communities in each of the last five years.

Anne Milton: We do not have a standard definition of low-income communities. The department publishes the funding allocations for individual colleges annually. Links to the most recent years for both 16 to 19 year olds and adults are given below.The link for funding allocations for 16 to 19 year olds can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/16-to-19-allocation-data-2018-to-2019-academic-year.The link for funding allocations for adults can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funding-allocations-to-training-providers-2018-to-2019.

National Holocaust Memorial Centre and Learning Service: Pupils

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that pupils are aware of the non-Jewish victims of the Holocaust.

Nick Gibb: The Department is fully committed to Holocaust education. Every young person should learn about the Holocaust and the lessons it teaches us today. The curriculum gives teachers and schools the freedom to decide how to teach the subject and what resources to use to support an understanding of the Holocaust.The Department further supports pupils’ and teachers’ understanding of the Holocaust by providing funding, such as £2,126,437 in 2019-20 for the Holocaust Educational Trust’s Lessons from Auschwitz project. The Department also provides funding to the UCL Institute of Education’s Centre for Holocaust Education, in 2019-20 £500,000 will be match funded by the Pears foundation. Additionally, in October 2018, the Chancellor announced £1.7 million for a new programme to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Bergen-Belsen by British troops.A wide array of resources are available. Both Lessons from Auschwitz and the knowledge and training provided by the Centre for Holocaust Education include information and resources to support an understanding of the Holocaust and the Nazi’s persecution of other non-Jewish groups, from the genocide of the Roma to the murder of people who were, for example, gay, disabled, Communist, trade-unionist, Polish or Soviet prisoners of war.

Free School Meals

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number and proportion of pupils attending secondary schools in (a) Ashfield constituency, (b) Nottinghamshire and (c) England who are eligible for free school meals but not claiming them.

Nadhim Zahawi: The number of students who are eligible for and are claiming free school meals (FSM) is published at national and school level in the underlying data of the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication. The 2019 publication is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.FSM are available to parents who are in receipt of certain qualifying benefits, including those that are means tested by the Department for Work and Pensions. To be eligible to receive FSM, a pupil or their parent must make a claim to the school for FSM. Until the claim is made, the pupil is not eligible for FSM. These figures do not include pupils who may be eligible for FSM but no claim has been made.The underlying data file Schools_pupils_and_their_characteristics_2019_pupil_characteristics_UD.csv includes a column for phase of school, parliamentary constituency and local authority.

Apprentices

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on people's long-term earnings potential of completing an intermediate level apprenticeship compared with (a) an advanced and (b) a higher level apprenticeship.

Anne Milton: The apprenticeships reform programme benefits realisation strategy, published in March 2017, sets out a broad range of success measures for the programme. A core benefit of the apprenticeships reform programme is to raise average earnings for apprentices, measured over a period of 5 years.For learners that achieved in academic year 2010/11, the median annualised earnings 5 years after training were greater at higher levels:£26,700 for higher (level 4) apprenticeships 5 years after training.£21,000 for advanced (level 3) apprenticeships.£17,900 for intermediate (level 2) apprenticeships.This information was released in October 2018 and can be found in the ‘Further Education: Outcome based success measures: academic years 2010/11 to 2015/16’, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/748305/FE_learners__outcome_based_success_measures.pdf.Data published in the ‘Estimation of the labour market returns to qualifications gained in English Further Education’ shows that on average, achievers of intermediate apprenticeships earn 11% more and achievers of advanced apprenticeships earn 16% more, 3-5 years after completing their apprenticeship, than those who started an apprenticeship at that level but did not complete. This information was published in December 2014 and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/383646/Estimation_of_the_labour_market_returns_to_qualifications_gained_in_English_Further_Education_-_Final_-_November_2014.pdf.Over the past few years we have introduced major reforms to apprenticeships and, as the system is still adapting, it is too early to know the full productivity and earnings benefits that these changes will bring.

Free School Meals

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of students qualify for free school meals in each secondary school in St Helens North constituency; and what the average proportion of students is who qualify for free school meals in secondary schools in England.

Nadhim Zahawi: The number and proportion of students who qualify for free school meals is published at national and school level in the underlying data of the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication. The 2019 publication is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.The underlying data file Schools_pupils_and_their_characteristics_2019_pupil_characteristics_UD.csv includes a column for parliamentary constituency.

Children's Centres

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 10 June 2019 to Question 260548 on Sure Start Programme, what recent assessment he has made of the implementation of local authorities' duty under the Childcare Act (2006) to ensure sufficient children's centres to meet the need of local families.

Nadhim Zahawi: The government has not made any such assessment. It is the responsibility of local authorities to comply with their statutory duties, having regard to statutory guidance published by the Department for Education. The relevant statutory guidance can be found at https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/678913/childrens_centre_stat_guidance_april-2013.pdf.The government’s focus is on outcomes for children. In July 2018 the government set an ambitious goal to halve, by 2028, the percentage of children leaving reception year without the communication, language and literacy skills they need to thrive. This is a clear direction for all those who have a part to play, including children’s centres. The department is working with local authorities, including through our £8.5 million early years local government programme, to achieve this ambition.To help local areas monitor and improve these outcomes, the department published on 6 June 2019 the Early Years Outcomes Dashboard, which can be found here: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/smapey-dashboard/. This dashboard makes the most important early years social mobility metrics easily available and will allow local authorities to benchmark their outcomes against their statistical neighbours. This is in addition to the extensive range of data made available to local authorities by Public Health England through its Child and Maternal Health profiles, which can be found here: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/child-health-profiles.

Ministry of Justice

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) assaults and (b) serious assaults on staff were recorded in each prison in each quarter from 2010 to 2018 by the type of weapon used.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many (a) assaults and (b) serious assaults on staff were recorded in each prison in each quarter from 2010 to 2018 by the type of injury inflicted.

Robert Buckland: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 28 June 2019.The correct answer should have been:

Data for the numbers of assaults and serious assaults in each prison, broken down by type of weapon and type of injury, is set out in the attached tables. The figures are presented by calendar year rather than by quarter. This is because analysis at the level of detail requested produces many results of 5 or fewer. Disclosure-proofing to reduce the risk of identification, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, requires such low numbers to be suppressed. Even at the annual level, some such values have had to be suppressed. The Government is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in prisons. We have recruited over 4,700 more prison officers since October 2016, and we now have the greatest number in post since early 2012. The Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan case management process for prisoners at risk of violence has been mandated for all prisons to help staff to manage violent prisoners and those identified as posing a raised risk of being violent. We are investing an extra £70 million to improve safety, security and decency, and equipping officers with PAVA incapacitant spray and body-worn cameras to help prevent serious harm to staff and prisoners when dealing with violent incidents. We are improving perimeter security and introducing new x-ray scanners, drug-detection dogs and dedicated search teams to address the supply of drugs that we know are fuelling much of the violence in custody.



Table 1
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Table 2
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Table 3
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Robert Buckland: Data for the numbers of assaults and serious assaults in each prison, broken down by type of weapon and type of injury, is set out in the attached tables. The figures are presented by calendar year rather than by quarter. This is because analysis at the level of detail requested produces many results of 5 or fewer. Disclosure-proofing to reduce the risk of identification, in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998, requires such low numbers to be suppressed. Even at the annual level, some such values have had to be suppressed. The Government is taking unprecedented action to improve safety in prisons. We have recruited over 4,700 more prison officers since October 2016, and we now have the greatest number in post since early 2012. The Challenge, Support and Intervention Plan case management process for prisoners at risk of violence has been mandated for all prisons to help staff to manage violent prisoners and those identified as posing a raised risk of being violent. We are investing an extra £70 million to improve safety, security and decency, and equipping officers with PAVA incapacitant spray and body-worn cameras to help prevent serious harm to staff and prisoners when dealing with violent incidents. We are improving perimeter security and introducing new x-ray scanners, drug-detection dogs and dedicated search teams to address the supply of drugs that we know are fuelling much of the violence in custody.



Table 1
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Table 2
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Table 3
(Excel SpreadSheet, 95.56 KB)

Legal Aid Scheme

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of applying the same exemption for back payments of employment support allowance from the capital means test for legal aid eligibility as was applied for payments made under the Windrush compensation scheme.

Paul Maynard: In its Legal Support Action Plan published on 7 February 2019, the Government announced a review of Legal Aid Means Testing, which will look at the thresholds for legal aid entitlement and their interaction with wider criteria. As part of this review, the Government will study the income and capital thresholds for legal aid entitlement, including the range of exemptions and disregards, which apply to both the civil and criminal legal aid means assessments.

European Arrest Warrants: Procurement

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much Approved Enforcement Agencies will be paid for carrying out warrants of arrest work on behalf of his Department.

Paul Maynard: Under the current Approved Enforcement Agencies (AEA) contracts the AEA’s are paid £75 for successfully executed Warrants of Arrest. We are in the process of procuring a new set of contracts for AEA services and the Invitation to Tender was released on 1 July 2019. The pricing for Warrant of Arrest services shall be established by this procurement exercise. The price for Warrants of Arrest Services forms part of the evaluation process, through which value for money will be determined. We plan to award contracts in December 2019, with services to commence in May 2020. We expect these new contracts will save the taxpayer more than £25m over the next five years, every penny of which will be reinvested into the justice system.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Finance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266835, HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Finance, for what reason the figure for the sum paid by the Department for Work and Pensions towards the cost of administering the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) in 2018-19 was not published, and when he plans to make that figure available.

Paul Maynard: The HM Courts & Tribunals Service Annual Report and Accounts for 2018/19 has yet to be audited for publication Figures for 2018/19 were therefore not published or included in the previous response. The figure for 2018/19 will be provided within the Note 8 (Operating Income) in the 2018/19 HMCTS Annual Report and Accounts and this will be published when the audit has completed and the accounts laid before Parliament. We expect this to happen before the summer recess.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Finance

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266835, HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Finance, why the Department for Work and Pensions contributes to the cost of administering the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) for appeals on attendance allowance, disability living allowance and personal independence payments, but is not required to contribute towards the cost of administering appeals against the disallowance of employment support allowance.

Paul Maynard: Prime responsibility for the funding of the operation of what is now the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) transferred, along with funding from what is now the Department for Work and Pensions to what is now the Ministry of Justice on the creation of the Tribunals Service on 1 April 2006.The contribution that the Department for Work and Pensions currently makes towards the costs of the First Tier Tribunal (Social Security & Child Support) covers the additional costs of that tribunal as a consequence of the introduction of the Personal Independence Payment benefit, which has led to an increase both in the number of appeals to the tribunal and, due to the increased complexity of the tests involved, their length and cost.No additional contribution is required towards the administration of Employment Support Allowance appeals as the cost of this tribunal has not been affected by a subsequent policy change.

Prison Officers: Vaccination

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has plans in place to ensure the urgent availability of immunisation against Hepatitis for all prison personnel; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Buckland: Under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (HASAWA), all employers must provide (so far as is reasonably practicable) a safe place of work and safe systems of work. This includes HM Prison and Probation Service for public sector prisons, and G4S/Sodexo/Serco for privately managed prisons.HM Prison and Probation Service offers and provides Hepatitis B vaccinations, followed by all required vaccination courses and/or blood tests, to ensure staff are protected at work. These are administered by our Occupational Health supplier, Optima Health, for Prison Officers, First Aid Officers and Operational Support grade staff across public sector prisons in England and Wales. The majority of public sector prisons have received Hepatitis B immunisation clinics in 2019. The remaining establishments will receive their clinics in the next few months. Human resources arrangements in privately managed prisons, including offering and providing Hepatitis B vaccinations, are the responsibility of providers. There is no preventative vaccine to protect against Hepatitis C. Therefore, post exposure management such as immediate first aid followed by appropriate risk assessment, is essential. Staff in public sector prisons receive education and training on safe systems of work, universal precautions, hand hygiene and use of personal protective equipment in relation to dealing with body fluids at work. Use of blood spillage kits are used by trained individuals only.Occupational health (OH) intervention in HMPPS includes provision of immediate and clinical advice by specialist nurses following suspected and actual blood to blood exposure incidents for staff at all levels via a HMPPS 24/7 telephone advice line.

Investigatory Powers Commissioner

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the timetable is for the appointment of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner.

Paul Maynard: The statutory process for appointing a new Investigatory Powers Commissioner under Section 227 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is underway. It is expected that the new Commissioner will be in post by the late autumn of 2019.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Buildings: Insulation

Sarah Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 June 2019 to Question 262396, what estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) tower blocks and (b) other buildings covered in HPL cladding since being made aware of the failed BS 8414 test.

Kit Malthouse: Holding answer received on 26 June 2019



The Department does not currently formally collect data on High-Pressure Laminate (HPL) cladding use. The Department has engaged with local authorities, housing associations and industry to understand the use of HPL on high rise residential buildings; and to remind them of the Departments advice on ensuring the fire safety of external wall systems.

Homelessness

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps the Government is taking to reduce homelessness in lower layer super output areas.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and rough sleeping.Homelessness is a priority for our Ministerial team. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. This includes supporting local authorities in the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act, increasing access to the private rented sector for families in temporary accommodation and supporting London boroughs to procure more efficiently.No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why last summer we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. In its first year, our Rough Sleeping Initiative (RSI) provided over 1,750 new bed spaces and 500 staff.  This year we have expanded the RSI with investment of £46 million for 246 areas – providing funding for an estimated 2,600 bed spaces and 750 staff.Local authorities are ultimately responsible for the allocation of funding resources within their respective geographical areas. This means that they will oversee the work done to reduce homelessness in any lower super output areas that fall within their remit.As with all local government work to tackle homelessness, local authorities will be both supported and, where necessary, challenged by the MHCLG’s Homelessness Advice and Support Team (HAST). This team of advisers, drawn from local authorities and charities with expertise in the homelessness sector, help local authorities with work around statutory homelessness and single homelessness. These advisers have visited or had one-to-one contact with all 326 local authorities, focusing on the implementation of the Homelessness Reduction Act and also working very closely with them to bring down the number of people in bed and breakfasts over 6 weeks.In addition to the above, MHCLG have overhauled the statutory homelessness data collection alongside the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act. This will give us better insights into the causes of homelessness and the support people need, with data broken down to local authority level. The new statutory homelessness data collection is called Homelessness Case Level Information Classification (H-CLIC). H-CLIC data is reported quarterly and the first case level H-CLIC returns were submitted to MHCLG over summer 2018.

Mental Health: Children and Young People

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much money from the public purse was spent by local authorities in England on services (a) promoting and (b) providing services for children and young people’s mental health in 2018-19.

Rishi Sunak: Funding for local government services, including children’s services, is set at Spending Review and made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement. This funding is largely unringfenced, enabling local authorities to target spending according to local needs. Local authorities used this flexibility to increase spending on children and young people’s services from £9 billion in 2015-16 to around £9.4 billion in 2017-18.   We do not hold data for 2018-19 or for local authorities spend on services for children and young people’s mental health. Nevertheless, the statutory guidance sets out local authorities’ duty to make sure each child they look after has a health assessment of their physical, emotional and mental health needs. The health and care system is responsible for providing this assessment.

Buildings: Insulation

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many (a) private and (b) social sector buildings have not started work on removing and replacing ACM cladding.

Kit Malthouse: As of 31 May 2019, a total of 146 private sector residential buildings, and 21 social sector residential buildings with Aluminium Composite Material cladding are yet to begin remediation. This information can be found as part of the latest Building Safety Programme Monthly Data Release at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/807417/Building_Safety_Data_Release_-_May_2019.pdf

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of fire doors in high-rise social housing blocks provide 30 minutes protection in accordance with building requirements.

Kit Malthouse: The Department does not hold data on the characteristics of fire doors in situ in high rise social housing blocks.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Iron and Steel

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will sign his Department up to the UK Steel charter.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has had discussions with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the UK Steel charter.

Jake Berry: We have discussed the procurement of steel with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which has asked all Government departments to consider guidance on steel procurement and to notify of any upcoming opportunities for industry.More broadly, the Government is committed to supporting the steel sector to realise the broader commercial opportunities that are open to it, which could be worth an additional £3.8 billion a year by 2030. We are establishing the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund – backed by up to £315 million of investment – to help businesses with high energy use (including steel companies) to cut their bills and transition UK industry to a low carbon future. We are also providing up to £66 million through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to help steel and other foundation industries develop radical new technologies.

Coastal Areas: Scotland

Kirstene Hair: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applications from (a) Scotland and (b) Angus have been made for grant funding from the Coastal Revival Fund.

Jake Berry: The Coastal Revival Fund was open to applications from English coastal towns. It would be for the Scottish Government to decide whether to administer the Coastal Revival Fund in Scotland.

Help to Buy Scheme: Nottinghamshire

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been purchased through the Help to Buy scheme in each Nottinghamshire parliamentary constituency in each year since the scheme's inception.

Kit Malthouse: Data on Help to Buy: Equity Loan completions is published by local authority, but not by constituency.Completions each year through Help to Buy: Equity Loan in each Nottinghamshire district from April 2013 to December 2018 are as follows: District2013*20142015201620172018Ashfield91194139232174100Bassetlaw48356610495120Broxtowe6110513954Gedling348053222758Mansfield389083565757Newark and Sherwood397594137135142Rushcliffe343660109166199 *April to DecemberThe latest official quarterly release of Help to Buy: Equity Loan statistics to December 2018 can be viewed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-statistics-april-2013-to-31-december-2018Completions by local authority are listed on Table 1 in the section Tables.

Ministry of Defence

Defence: Diversification

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of creating a defence diversification agency to ensure the sustainability of the defence sector.

Stuart Andrew: The defence sector makes a significant contribution to the capability of our Armed Forces and supports hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect jobs throughout the UK. Our refreshed Defence Industrial Policy, published in December 2017, sets out our commitment to encouraging a thriving and globally competitive UK defence sector as an integral part of the Government's overall Industrial Strategy. This includes encouraging the wider application of our investment in research. Ploughshare Innovations Ltd was established specifically to support the responsible transfer of defence research into the civilian market. On 14 March 2019 we provided an update to Parliament on the Defence Prosperity Programme (HCWS1411); this programme includes a specific strand of work aimed at sustaining an internationally competitive and productive Defence sector for the UK.

Armed Forces: Pensions

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if her Department will review the right to preserved pensions for members of the armed forces who retired before the introduction of the armed forces pension scheme 1975.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: Before April 1975, there was no legal requirement for a pension scheme to preserve pension rights for those who left service before reaching the normal retirement age.The issue of pre-1975 pensions does not just affect the Armed Forces but is common to all other public service schemes in existence prior to the Social Security Act 1973.It has been the policy of successive Governments not to make retrospective changes to pension schemes.

Warships

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many ships and submarines of each type are in service in each branch of the armed forces; and where each ship and submarine is based.

Stuart Andrew: The following table lists how many ships and submarines of each type are in service in the Royal Navy and where each ship and submarine is based as at 1 June 2019. Naval Vessels in Service as at 1 June 2019  Type of VesselNoBased   Aircraft Carrier1HMNB PortsmouthType 45 Destroyer6HMNB PortsmouthType 23 Frigate5HMNB PortsmouthHunt Class Mine Counter Measure Vessel6HMNB PortsmouthOffshore Patrol Vessel – River Class4HMNB PortsmouthInshore Patrol Boat14HMNB PortsmouthOffshore Patrol Vessel - Helicopters1HMNB PortsmouthLanding Platform Dock2HMNB DevonportType 23 Frigate8HMNB DevonportOcean Survey Vessel1HMNB DevonportSurvey Vessel Hydrographic/Oceanographic2HMNB DevonportInshore Survey Vessel1HMNB DevonportIce Patrol Ship1HMNB DevonportShip Submersible Nuclear Trafalgar Class3HMNB ClydeSandown Class Mine Counter Measure Vessel7HMNB ClydeFaslane Patrol Boat Squadron2HMNB ClydeShip Submersible Nuclear Astute3HMNB ClydeShip Submersible Ballistic Nuclear4HMNB ClydeRoyal Navy Gibraltar Squadron2GibraltarFleet Tanker5Not base portedFleet Replenishment Ship3Not base portedLanding Ship Dock3Not base portedPrimary Casualty Receiving Ship/Aviation Training Ship1Not base portedTOTAL85

Army: Training

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the training available to Army personnel.

Mark Lancaster: Army training meets the requirements of the Army through the provision of a skilled and capable force progressing from basic training to trade training, followed by collective and, where relevant, mission specific training. For the personnel it provides a challenging and rewarding experience.Courses are regularly reviewed and refreshed, against current military doctrine and knowledge, to ensure currency and relevance. Where appropriate external validation, for example by Ofsted, takes place.

Armed Forces: Cybercrime

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of cyber security training in the armed forces.

Mark Lancaster: Cyber security is vital to defence and training our personnel is of paramount importance to us. The Defence Cyber School, which celebrated its first year anniversary in March this year, is a centre of excellence for cyber training established to meet the needs of defence and its partners, addressing all aspects of cyber training and education.Since it's opening, the Defence Cyber School has delivered over 4,000 days of training to personnel across its range of courses. Training has been wide ranging from practical networking taught to Junior and Senior Non Commissioned Officers (NCOs), cyber awareness to Senior NCOs, officers and strategic level cyber awareness to one-star masterclasses.It is essential that we continue to operate effectively in the fast-moving and evolving digital world. The Defence Cyber School team, in an exciting step for the cyber community, are currently redesigning all their courses. The new courses being developed will form the Cyber Foundation Pathway, envisioned to give a baseline grounding for our Armed Forces in cyber roles in the Ministry of Defence and in time, for staff in cyber roles in wider Government.

Warships: Territorial Waters

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps her Department is taking to deter foreign military vessels from entering UK territorial waters.

Mark Lancaster: The protection of UK Territorial waters is a shared responsibility between the Ministry of Defence; Border Force; Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs; and, in relation to fisheries, the Marine Management Organisation in England, Marine Scotland and Northern Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.As part of the Ministry of Defence's contribution to the Government's efforts, there is always one Royal Navy ship that is designated as the Fleet Ready Escort (FRE), together with a number of Royal Navy units available in UK waters. The FRE is at short notice to react to any maritime threat to the UK.The FRE will spend the majority of the year in and around UK waters conducting training and exercises with various UK and military agencies and organisations. This is combined with RAF surveillance aircraft and a multi layered range of complementary assets, including those from Allies.

Nuclear Submarines: Decommissioning

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps her Department is taking to minimise the time taken to dispose of retired nuclear submarines.

Stuart Andrew: An established programme of work is in place to dispose of our decommissioned nuclear submarines as soon as practicable. Good progress has been made and the initial phase of dismantling of the first submarine, SWIFTSURE, has been completed. Work continues on the removal of low level radioactive waste from the second boat, RESOLUTION. We expect to have a fully developed process for steady state disposal ready by 2026. In parallel, we continue to examine techniques and processes that can maximise the efficiency of this work.

US Air Force: Lincolnshire

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what restrictions cover flights by United States Air Force planes over south Lincolnshire to protect residents against disturbance caused by (a) noise and (b) vibrations.

Mark Lancaster: There are no specific restrictions that apply solely to United States Air Force (USAF) flights over South Lincolnshire. Rather, the USAF adhere to UK Military Aviation Authority regulations when flying in the airspace above South Lincolnshire, and this includes the regulations for flights in the UK Low Flying System.

US Air Force: Lincolnshire

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what safety measures have been implemented to protect (a) pilots and (b) local residents when United States Air Force planes fly over south Lincolnshire.

Mark Lancaster: All flights by United States Air Force (USAF) aircraft in the airspace over South Lincolnshire are conducted in accordance with UK Military Aviation Authority regulations. There is no requirement to implement specific safety measures for flights by USAF aircraft over South Lincolnshire.

US Air Force: Accidents

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how the United States Air Force is accountable for accidents caused by its planes in UK airspace.

Mark Lancaster: Under the Accident Investigation Framework agreed between the UK and the US, the US authorities would be responsible for conducting an investigation into an accident in the UK involving a US military aircraft. The US authorities would liaise with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) during the investigation, and the findings of the investigation would be made available to the MOD.

US Air Force: Lincolnshire

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether her Department plans to facilitate a dialogue between the United States Air Force and local residents on the frequency of flights over south Lincolnshire.

Mark Lancaster: There are no plans to open a dialogue regarding routine training flights by United States Air Force aircraft over South Lincolnshire, as such flights are conducted in accordance with UK Military Aviation Authority flying regulations.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit: Veterans

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment her Department has made of the effect of universal credit on armed forces veterans.

Will Quince: The Department has put in place special arrangements under the Armed Forces Covenant to support veterans and to take account of their needs and circumstances, such as ensuring War Disablement Pensions and guaranteed income payments made under the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme are not taken into account in the assessment of Universal Credit entitlement.Universal Credit is a tailored service and it is important that we support those claimants, including veterans, who may find the application process for Universal Credit challenging. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim service offers tailored, practical support to help people to make their Universal Credit claim. This service is available online, over the phone and face-to-face, so that claimants can access support in the way that is most suitable for them.Every Jobcentre Plus District has an Armed Forces Champion who ensures that any concerns and issues raised which affect Service Personnel and their families are integrated within the wider work of Jobcentre Plus. These Armed Forces Champions ensure that Work Coaches and other DWP staff can effectively support serving personnel, service leavers, veterans and their families.

Universal Credit

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish the changes in a claimant's circumstances that would result in natural migration from legacy benefits to universal credit.

Alok Sharma: Currently people only move to Universal Credit because they have had a significant change in their circumstances which would previously have led them to make a new claim to a legacy benefit. Claimant circumstances within the legacy system are diverse and interact with a range of benefits in different ways. Eligibility for Universal Credit is dependent on individuals’ circumstances, the specific nature of the change and rules for access to legacy benefits.Therefore, it is not possible to give a definitive list as each will depend on the individual circumstances of the claimants involved and the specific nature of the change.However, some specific examples of changes which would cause a claimant to move on to Universal Credit are:A single Jobseeker’s Allowance claimant starts working for more than 16 hours per week;A Housing Benefit claimant moves to new rented accommodation in a different local authority area;An Income Support claimant wishes to claim support for their first child;A Working Tax Credits claimant’s only employment ends and they wish to claim support because they have insufficient income (whether during or at the end of the WTC run-on period);The child (or youngest child) of an Income Support claimant reaches the age of five (and the claimant does not belong to any other prescribed category for continuing to receive Income Support);A Child Tax Credit claimant moves to new accommodation, and they need support with rent costs for the first time.

Universal Credit: Alyn and Deeside

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many unsuccessful claims for universal credit there were in Alyn and Deeside constituency in each of the last five years.

Alok Sharma: The requested information is not available.The Department supports claimants to make a successful claim to Universal Credit where they wish to do so. For example, those claimants who are unable to access or use our digital services, assistance to make and maintain their claim is available via the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. Face-to-face support is also available in Jobcentres. In exceptional circumstances, a home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making and maintaining their claim.From 1 April 2019 Citizens Advice (England and Wales) and Citizens Advice Scotland are delivering the new ‘Help to Claim’ support to claimants making a new Universal Credit (UC) claim or moving from a legacy benefit to UC because of a change of circumstances. The Citizens Advice Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make a UC claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is available online, through web-chat, through a Freephone number and face to face through local Citizens Advice services.

Universal Credit

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of unsuccessful claims for universal credit were as a result of (a) a claimant's lack of digital skills and (b) inadequate support for that claimant.

Alok Sharma: Data on the proportion of unsuccessful claims to Universal Credit which were a result of (a) a claimant's lack of digital skills and (b) inadequate support for that claimant is not gathered by the Department. The Universal Credit Full Service Claimant Survey found that 98 per cent of claimants claimed online. This can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-full-service-claimant-survey For those claimants who are unable to access or use our digital services, there is assistance available to make and maintain their claim using the Freephone Universal Credit helpline. Face-to-face support is also available in all Jobcentres. In exceptional circumstances, a home visit can be arranged to support a claimant in making and maintaining their claim. Running alongside the national Jobcentre offer from 1 April 2019 is the Citizens Advice Help to Claim which support claimants in making a new Universal Credit claim or moving from a legacy benefit to Universal Credit because of a change of circumstances. Help to Claim offers tailored, practical support to help people make their claim up to receiving their first full correct payment on time. It is widely available online, through a Freephone number and face to face through local Citizens Advice services.

Universal Credit

Mark Tami: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of natural migrations to universal credit from legacy benefits were as a result of (a) a trigger for natural migration, (b) claimant error, (c) official error, (d) incorrect advice from staff or contractors and (e) inadequate advice from third party advisers.

Alok Sharma: The requested information is not available. Currently people only move to Universal Credit (UC) because they have had a significant change in their circumstances which would previously have led them to make a new claim to a legacy benefit. It has always been the case that in such circumstances, new claims would be assessed based upon their new circumstances and under the rules of the new benefit. Claimant circumstances within the legacy system are diverse and interact with a range of benefits in different ways. Eligibility for UC is dependent on individuals’ circumstances, the specific nature of the change and rules for access to legacy benefits.

Universal Credit

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many civil penalties relating to failure to undertake tasks required for universal credit compliance have been issued in each of the last 12 months.

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much revenue has been received from civil penalties relating to failure to undertake tasks required for universal credit compliance in each of the last 12 months.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 01 July 2019



A £50 Civil Penalty may be imposed by both Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Local Authorities where an individual incurs a recoverable overpayment as a result of failing to provide accurate information as part of their benefit claim or in connection with an award of benefit, and has not taken reasonable steps to correct the error. The table below shows the volume of Civil Penalties applied to UC Overpayments in the last 12 months along with the value of recoveries in the last 12 months where a Civil Penalty was imposed on a UC debt. * Note that there is no correlation between the number applied and the value of recovery for the associated month. Civil Penalties issued in a 12-month period will not necessarily be recovered in that same 12-month period as debts will be repaid over different timeframes, in accordance with a debtor’s particular commitments. MonthNumber applied to UC overpayment Value of  Recovery Jun-18140£4,300Jul-18120£4,700Aug-18190£8,100Sep-18130£5,800Oct-1880£8,600Nov-1820£5,700Dec-18Fewer than 5£5,400Jan-1910£4,800Feb-1920£3,700Mar-1920£3,800Apr-1910£2,300May-1910£1,600 When recovering overpayments, DWP ensures that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect claimants from any undue financial hardship. Like the Department, private collection agencies will look to establish sustainable repayment arrangements. *The data provided in this response has been sourced from internal management information and was not intended for public release. It should therefore not be compared to any other, similar data subsequently released by the Department. All figures have been rounded to the nearest 100.

Universal Credit

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many payments of the child element of universal credit have been ceased due to a child being in hospital for over six months in each of the last three years.

Will Quince: The requested information is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Employment: Chronic Illnesses

Stephen McPartland: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help people recently recovered from long-term illness find and return to work.

Justin Tomlinson: DWP is committed to helping people with health conditions and disabilities including those recently recovered from long-term illness, move nearer to the labour market and, when ready, into work, by building more personalised tailored employment and health support. For example: The Work and Health Programme, which rolled out between November 2017 and March 2018, will support around 275,000 people over five years - the majority whom (around 220,000) will be disabled people who can volunteer for the programme at any time. The new Intensive Personalised Employment Support programme, which is due to be rolled out across England and Wales at the end of 2019, will provide highly personalised packages of employment support for people with both disabilities and complex barriers to employment who are considered by DWP work coaches to be more than 12 months from the labour market without intensive support. People who have recently recovered from long-term illness but whose health condition or disability affects the way they do their job can apply for in-work support from Access to Work scheme. Access to Work can also offer support for interviews and voluntary pre-employment opportunities, such as Work Experience and Work Trials, which may lead to paid employment.In addition, DWP is engaging with employers through the Disability Confident scheme - supporting them to feel more confident about both employing disabled people, including autistic people, and supporting disabled employees to realise their potential. Nearly 12,000 employers have signed up to the scheme so far.Looking forward, DWP is working in partnership with DHSC to publish a consultation on how employers can best support disabled people and people with long-term health conditions to stay and thrive in work. The proposals included in the consultation not only seek to benefit disabled people, but all employees who experience or are at risk of a long term sickness absence.

Pension Credit

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that everyone who is entitled to pension credit receives it.

Guy Opperman: The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to and the DWP targets activity on engaging with people who may be eligible to benefits at pivotal stages, such as when they claim State Pension or report a change in their circumstances. The DWP uses a wide range of channels to communicate information about benefits to potential customers; including information on https://gov.uk/, in leaflets and by telephone. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit. Potential customers can use the Pension Credit https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. People wishing to claim Pension Credit can do so by calling 0800 99 1234..One of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder working in the community and we have developed the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits. Most recently we have provided to relevant stakeholders a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the changes introduced on 15 May for mixed age couples to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.

Universal Credit

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 267343 on Universal Credit, if her Department will (a) investigate the practice of loansharks applying on behalf of an individual for a universal credit advance payment which is then issued as a loan to the individual and (b) review the application process for universal credit advance payments to tackle such practices.

Alok Sharma: Holding answer received on 01 July 2019



The Department is committed to reducing fraud and error and considers information from a range of sources to progress our investigations. We work hard to identify perpetrators of fraud and ensure we take appropriate prosecution action. We routinely gather intelligence to assist our understanding of anyone seeking to abuse the safety net that Universal Credit offers. Any exploitation of advance payments is not acceptable, and we are seeking to identify the perpetrators and ensure we take appropriate prosecution action. We have a dedicated team of investigators working on this issue and we regularly raise awareness with our front line staff who understand the risks and raise concerns as appropriate through referrals to Fraud colleagues. We are committed to keeping all Universal Credit services and processes, including advance payments, under review and will make improvements to address any vulnerabilities in the system. The protection of our most vulnerable claimants remains of paramount importance to us.

Pension Credit

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much funding the Government allocated to charities that work with older people to support them in promoting the take-up of pension credit in (a) 2015-16, (b) 2016-17 and (c) 2017-18.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 02 July 2019



The Government is committed to ensuring that older people receive the support they are entitled to. We work with a wide range of stakeholders, including charities to ensure that accurate information about benefits including Pension Credit is available in the places where people are most likely to go to seek information. The DWP knows that one of the best ways to reach eligible customers is through trusted stakeholder organisations working in the community and that is why we have developed and resourced the Pension Credit toolkit, as an on-line tool for agencies and welfare rights organisations to use in order to encourage Pension Credit take-up. It can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pension-credit-toolkit The toolkit contains resources for anyone working with pensioners and includes guides to Pension Credit. It also contains publicity material and guidance designed to help older people understand how they could get Pension Credit and help organisations support someone applying for Pension Credit as well as ideas for encouraging take-up. The toolkit also provides links to information about disability and carers benefits. Stakeholders and potential customers alike can use the Pension Credit calculator at https://www.gov.uk/pension-credit-calculator to check if they are likely to be eligible and get an estimate of what they may receive. Most recently we have provided to relevant stakeholders a fact sheet about Pension Credit and the changes introduced on 15 May for mixed age couples to ensure they are able to communicate the most up-to-date information to potential claimants. DWP staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres including visiting officers are able to provide help and advice about entitlement to benefits, as are staff in Local Authorities who administer Housing Benefit.

Pensions

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether it is her Department's policy that pension schemes can already invest in funds with performance fees.

Guy Opperman: Holding answer received on 02 July 2019



Private Pension schemes which are not used for automatic enrolment are free to invest in funds with performance fees. To protect savers who are automatically enrolled into a pension scheme and make no choice of investment fund, the Government introduced a charge cap on 6 April 2015. Performance fees have always been subject to the charge cap. However, the way that schemes used for automatic enrolment verify compliance with the charge cap limits the use of most performance fees. Earlier this year DWP consulted on proposals to extend the ways that pension schemes verify compliance with the charge cap to accommodate performance fees (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/defined-contribution-pensions-investments-and-consolidation), as long as members invested over the whole year were not charged more than 0.75% of their funds under management or an equivalent combination charge. Our consultation met with broad support. We are considering next steps, but we do not intend to remove performance fees – in any form – from the automatic enrolment charge cap.

Occupational Pensions

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will make it her Department's policy to continue to include performance fees within the pensions charge cap.

Guy Opperman: Performance fees of all types have been subject to the automatic enrolment charge cap since 6 April 2015, when the Charges and Governance regulations (http://www.legislation.gov.uk/2015/879 ) came into force.It remains our policy that these fees should be subject to the cap. Savers who join a workplace pension scheme without choosing where to save or whether to save should not pay more than 0.75% or an equivalent combination charge over the year

Universal Credit: Young People

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on young people who are (a) homeless and (b) experiencing mental health issues.

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that homeless young people with mental health issues on universal credit are (a) supported into employment and (b) have adequate income.

Will Quince: This Government is committed to supporting vulnerable claimants, such as those with mental health conditions or experiencing homelessness. We understand that these claimants may face extra challenges in their lives. Universal Credit is designed to target resources at those that need them most and to provide support for people who cannot work or need help moving towards the labour market.We recognise the importance of understanding how a mental health condition impacts someone’s ability to prepare for and look for work. That is why we have developed a range of specialised mental health training for work coaches and increased the number of Disability Employment Advisers who can provide additional support where needed. Furthermore, we have a number of Community Partners recruited specifically for their expertise in mental health issues, that can provide advice that is often based on lived experience.In the case of homeless claimants, it is our priority to ensure that people experiencing homelessness get the appropriate support they need to improve their lives and move into work. For example, we are able to put job-seeking requirements on hold temporarily whilst claimants find accommodation or stabilise their housing situation, as well as priority access to the Work and Health Programme.We are supporting the manifesto commitment to halve rough sleeping by 2022 and eradicate it altogether by 2027 through the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Taskforce, and commitments set out in the recent Rough Sleeping Strategy. Furthermore, work coaches in England are legally bound to offer a voluntary referral to claimants they consider may be homeless or threatened with homelessness to a Local Housing Authority of the claimant’s choice.

Universal Credit: Children

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that the childcare element of universal credit is not an economic barrier to work.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to find a long-term solution for upfront costs in childcare under universal credit.

Will Quince: The Government recognises that childcare costs can affect parents’ decisions to take up paid work or increase their working hours. We are committed to helping parents into work. To overcome this barrier to employment, Universal Credit claimants are able to claim up to 85 per cent of their childcare costs, compared to 70% on the legacy system. This can be claimed up to a month before starting a job, and can be worth up to £13,000 a year for families with two children. We recognise the difficulty that some claimants might have in paying upfront childcare costs. Where the initial month’s childcare costs may prevent a claimant from starting work, Jobcentres will use the Flexible Support Fund to help claimants in the first instance. This is a non-repayable award, which can be used to meet the upfront childcare costs to help support a claimant into work. For claimants who are in work and need help with upfront childcare costs, budgeting advances are available that can be used to cover the cost of paying upfront childcare costs or a deposit. We have piloted a more flexible approach to claimants reporting childcare costs, which will allow people, including lone parents, to be reimbursed for childcare when, with good reason, they are not able to provide evidence within their assessment period. We are now looking to implement this nationally. We have undertaken significant work to increase work coach awareness and understanding of the Universal Credit childcare offer through improved training and guidance and communications. The Universal Credit childcare policy also aligns with the wider government childcare offer, which includes free childcare hours and tax free childcare.

Employment and Support Allowance: Tower Hamlets

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 250471, what information her Department has provided to London Borough of Tower Hamlets on the (a) number and (b) contact details of those people whose claims were wrongly recorded on the ATLAS system.

Justin Tomlinson: As part of the Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) underpayment exercise we are informing Local Authorities of any new and past awards of income-related ESA where Local Authorities have registered an interest via the relevant system, in line with our business as usual procedures.We are in the process of developing additional guidance to support Local Authorities to consider further any possible impacts on individuals of the ESA underpayment exercise.

Employment and Support Allowance: Greater London

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 250471 on Employment and Support Allowance, how many claimants in each London borough were incorrectly classified as being entitled to contribution-based rather than income-based Employment and Support Allowance.

Justin Tomlinson: We are not able to make robust estimates of the numbers of cases likely to be due arrears at a local authority level. All estimates are national only. Local authority breakdowns of numbers of cases that have been paid arrears to date could only be provided at disproportionate cost. We are focusing our efforts on contacting all potentially affected individuals to ensure they are paid as quickly as possible.

Shared Housing: Greater London

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 24 June 2019 to Question 266836 on Shared Accommodation Rate, what standard deduction rent officers make for fuel from the advertised rents for rooms in shared accommodation in the (a) Central London, (b) Inner East London, (c) Inner North London, (d) Inner South East London, (e) Inner South West London and (f) Inner West London Broad Rental Market Areas.

Will Quince: There are no standard deductions for ineligible services for the specific Broad Rental Market Areas listed. In order to ensure a consistent approach, Rent Officers have a national guide to service deductions which has been arrived at following research of utility company pricing. The Rent Officer refers to the standard deductions and decides whether it is appropriate to apply them, however ultimately each case will be looked at on an individual basis.

Pension Funds: Investment

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she is taking steps to ensure that pension companies declare investments in the fossil-fuel industry; and if she will make a statement.

Guy Opperman: The Government recognises that climate change is a key national and international issue we have made sure that pension schemes understand their role responding to its effects. In September 2018, following extensive consultation with the pensions industry, this Government laid regulations (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/pension-trustees-clarifying-and-strengthening-investment-duties) to clarify and strengthen trustees’ investment duties, including taking account of the financial risks of climate change when developing their investment strategies. There has been extensive stakeholder engagement since. The regulations come into force from October this year. Defined contribution occupational pension schemes will be required to publish their policy on consideration of climate risks by October 2019, with most defined benefit schemes being required to follow suit by October 2020. The FCA are consulting on corresponding provisions for workplace personal pension schemes. As the Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion I have spoken extensively about the new requirements and the Government expectations of pension schemes, including at the Westminster Hall debate regarding Pension Funds: Financial and Ethical Investments on the 22 May 2019: “For too long there has been a perception by too many trustees -I am happy to clarify this as a Government Minister- that the environmental practices of the firms they invest in are purely ethical concerns, which they do not need to worry about: that is utterly wrong. Aside from the ethical considerations, there are real financial risks resulting from climate change. With the long-term horizons of pension investing, trustees must now consider that when they set out their investment strategies. Trustees who do not consider those matters will be breaching their statutory and potentially their fiduciary duties not only to current but future members.” The full debate can be viewed here: https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2019-05-22/debates/D3194408-7581-4635-AEDC-6D22AD6F0EBC/PensionFundsFinancialAndEthicalInvestments The Government is very keen to support trustees in making responsible investment decisions.

Pension Credit

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the (a) number of people in (i) Ashfield, (ii) Nottinghamshire, (iii) the East Midlands and (iv) England who are eligible for pension credit but not claiming it and (b) value of that unclaimed pension credit.

Guy Opperman: The information requested on the (a) number of people in (i) Ashfield, (ii) Nottinghamshire, (iii) East Midlands and (iv) England who are eligible for pension credit but are not claiming it, and (b) value of that unclaimed pension credit is not available at constituency, regional or country level. Official statistics on the take-up of income related benefits at Great Britain level, including Pension Credit, can be found in the ‘Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up 2016 to 2017’ publication. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-related-benefits-estimates-of-take-up-financial-year-2016-to-2017

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to minimise the frequency of assessment for recipients of employment support allowance and personal independence payment; and what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of extending the light touch benefit reviews introduced for disabled people of pension age to (a) claimants with life-long disabilities and (b) all claimants.

Justin Tomlinson: Changes have been made to the benefit reassessment process for those with the most severe and lifelong health conditions.In Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit, since September 2017 we have stopped routinely assessing those whose level of function would always mean that they are unlikely ever to be able to move into work. And in 2018 we introduced updated guidance for Personal Independence Payment health professionals and case managers to ensure that people who already receive the highest level of support and whose needs are unlikely to change or may get worse, will receive an ongoing award with a light touch review at the ten-year point.

Housing Benefit: Young People

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of extending the exemption from the Shared Accommodation Rate to people under the age of 25 who have been in homeless accommodation for more than three months.

Will Quince: There is an exemption from the shared accommodation rate for those aged 25-34 who have previously spent 3 months (which doesn’t have to be continuous) in a homeless hostel/hostels specialising in rehabilitation and resettlement. There are no plans to extend this exemption to those under the age of 25. For other individuals who may require more support and whose circumstances may make it difficult for them to share accommodation, Discretionary Housing Payments are available.

Universal Credit: Harrogate

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the universal credit managed migration pilot is planned to begin in Harrogate.

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the letter from the Leader of the House to the hon. Member for High Peak on 7 June 2019 on universal credit managed migration regulations, when she plans to make an announcement on her Department's policies on the migration of people who received severe disability premium from legacy benefits to universal credit.

Alok Sharma: On 3 May 2019, the High Court handed down a judgment in relation to Universal Credit and the Severe Disability Premium (SDP). The judgment quashed the SDP related parts of the draft Universal Credit (Managed Migration Pilot and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2019.The Department is currently considering the options open to us and will respond in due course. We plan to begin the “Move to UC” pilot in July 2019.

Social Security Benefits: Medical Examinations

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of (a) personal independence payments and (b) employment and support allowance assessments undertaken by (i) ATOS, (ii) Capita, and (iii) Maximus which have resulted in a complaint in each of the last six years.

Justin Tomlinson: Assessment Providers have their own complaints process to deal with dissatisfaction about the service they provide. I am unable to provide figures solely about the ‘assessment undertaken’ therefore the figures below include all related complaints such as administrative, clinical, accommodation etc. (i), (ii) Information on the number of complaints received by Independent Assessment Service (IAS), formally ATOS, and Capita are shown in the table below: - YearComplaints received by IAS (prev ATOS)Complaints received by CapitaTotal number of complaints receivedComplaints as a percentage of assessments201339094013203.5%20143090589089802.2%20152690182645100.7%20163780300067800.7%20175400353089300.9%20185870349093601.0%Source: Provider MI, figures rounded to nearest 10. (iii) The Health Assessment Advisory Service is delivered on behalf of DWP by Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) which is a MAXIMUS company. Information on the number of complaints received by CHDA in relation to ESA and UC Work Capability Assessments is only available from quarter ending August 2016. QuarterComplaints received by CHDAComplaints as a percentage of assessmentsAug 1611200.6%Nov 1611700.7%Feb 1711500.6%May 1712300.7%Aug 1711900.6%Nov 1711400.6%Feb 1810100.5%May 1810200.6%Aug 189800.5%Nov 189700.5%Feb 199500.5%May 199300.5%Source: Provider MI, figures rounded to nearest 10

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Hedgehogs: Conservation

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment there has been of the risk that A24 traps pose to hedgehog populations.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The A24 trap is not approved for trapping hedgehogs. We are confident that hedgehogs can be effectively and safely excluded from the Goodnature A24 trap when it is set according to manufacturer’s instructions and, as is required by law, an excluder tunnel is used. We are also not aware of any evidence which suggests the A24 trap or the excluder tunnel has any impact on hedgehogs.

Tree Felling

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure the accuracy of the data in relation to tree (a) felling and (b) restocking and the associated granting of felling licences.

David Rutley: The Forestry Commission regulates felling of trees in England. Felling licences are a requirement for felling, unless an exemption applies. The Forestry Commission provides the best available information on the granting of felling licences, illegal felling, and publicly funded restocking. These Official Statistics are produced to meet the standards of the Code of Practice for Statistics. Last year, the Forestry Commission introduced a new felling licence online service, which will enable further improvements to the collection and reporting of data on licencing. There is no obligation for a landowner to fell their trees once a licence has been granted, which can be valid for up to 10 years, so data on actual felling is not recorded and there are no plans to do so. However, loss of woodland can be detected from the analysis of satellite earth observation data, and the Forestry Commission already provides statistics on the net loss of woodland area in England.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/forestry-commission-corporate-plan-performance-indicators-2019This takes account of the loss of woodland to open habitat creation and development. The Forestry Commission is also exploring the potential to further develop techniques to enhance the detection of tree felling and restocking.

Timber

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase (a) the transparency of the UK timber market and (b) the publication of data on timber production.

David Rutley: The Forestry Commission, through its agency Forest Research, collects data and publishes statistics on UK timber markets. This work includes information provided by timber processors through surveys and members of the timber industry who participate in the Expert Group on Timber Statistics. Forest Research works to recognised standards, and Official Statistics are produced in compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/forestry-commission-corporate-plan-performance-indicators-2019

Animal Welfare: Sentencing

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to increase the maximum sentence available under the Animal welfare (Service Animals) Act 2006.

David Rutley: I am pleased to say that the legislation needed to implement the increase in the maximum penalty for animal cruelty offences - the Animal Welfare (Sentencing) Bill – had its First Reading in this House on 26 June. The Bill will increase the custodial penalty for causing unnecessary suffering to an animal, as well as other animal cruelty offences, from 6 months’ imprisonment to 5 years’ imprisonment.

Sharks: Imports

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of banning shark fin imports.

Mr Robert Goodwill: The UK has a strong track record in marine conservation. We successfully led the charge to ban shark finning across the EU, and we continue to press for stronger international controls. When sharks are caught we support the EU position of landing the full body. While we are a member of the EU it is not possible to introduce additional restrictions on the import of shark fins. When we leave the EU there will be an opportunity to consider the case for going further than current arrangements, consistent with our World Trade Organisation obligations.

Peat

Sir Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his Department's policy to protect remaining areas of peat moss in the UK from development.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: This is a devolved matter and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Around 75% of the area which still supports blanket bog vegetation is already protected from development via a range of statutory conservation designations. Of the remaining area of lowland raised bog which still supports semi-natural vegetation, around 85% is protected. The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) protects irreplaceable habitat from development within its remit, unless there are wholly exceptional reasons to allow it. Whether individual peat moss sites are irreplaceable is a matter of judgement for local authorities to determine when considering applications. Sites are irreplaceable when it is technically very difficult (or would take a very significant time) to restore, recreate or replace once destroyed, taking into account the age, uniqueness, species diversity or rarity. The NPPF also protected peatlands from development for minerals extraction by ending the granting of new licences for peat extraction. The government is preparing a peatland strategy which will outline our approach.

Animal Housing: Licensing

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many local authority checks have been undertaken on non multi-boarding dog boarding hosts since the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018 were published.

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average cost is of a premise check for a non multi-boarding dog boarding host since the implementation of the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018.

David Rutley: The 2018 Regulations updated the regulatory regimes for a number of licensed animal related activities, including different styles of dog boarding, by introducing strict statutory minimum welfare standards. Local authorities are responsible for enforcing the 2018 Regulations and have powers to issue or revoke licences, and powers of entry and inspection. Each local authority would hold the information requested and the Government does not require it to be submitted centrally.

Nature Conservation: 5G

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the roll-out of 5G on the sustainability of (a) insects, (b) other animals and (c) other wildlife.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra has funded national and global assessments of the status of pollinators and the factors driving changes in their populations. These assessments do not identify 5G or electromagnetic radiation as a driver. Defra has not undertaken any formal assessment of the potential effect of the roll out of the 5G network on insects, other animals or other wildlife. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is the lead Department for 5G roll out and I refer the hon. Member to the reply previously given to the hon. Member for Stroud, Dr David Drew, on 29 May 2019 to PQ 256919.

Home Office

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2019 to Question 267306 on Immigration: EU Nationals, what estimate he has made of the number of applicants for whom tax credit records would be relevant.

Caroline Nokes: The purpose of the automated checks is to help the applicant establish their continuous residence in the UK. Eligibility to receive benefits is not dependent upon being continuously resident in the UK. Benefits except Job Seekers Allowance and Maternity Allowance on their own are not strong indicators of continuous residence unless receipt of them persists over a period of 12 months. There are also overlaps with other data that is available from the checks. For instance, PAYE data covers most applicants who claim working tax credits and receipt of other benefits included in the checks will overlap with receipt of child tax credits. Child Benefit is not included in the automated checks because it is not a sufficient indicator of continuous UK residence. A full explanation of how the automated checks work has been published at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.Following analysis conducted on an anonymised sample of 10,000 applications submitted under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, the Home Office estimated that the potential pool of resident EEA citizens who might benefit from tax credits data being included in the automated checks was around two per cent and this was before any consideration of the applicability of that data to proving continuous residence. Individuals who need to rely on tax credits to demonstrate their continuous residence are still able to provide documentary evidence of this as part of their application.In accordance with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, we have had due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Fraud: Criminal Investigation

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services report entitled Fraud: Time to Choose: An inspection of the police response to fraud, published in April 2019, what steps he has taken in response to the recommendations in that report on improving the police response to fraud.

Mr Ben Wallace: The former Home Secretary commissioned this report because we wanted a much clearer view of how fraud was being investigated and what improvements were needed.We welcome the report and we are now working to ensure the report’s recommendations are implemented effectively, including supporting the City of London Police to develop a national fraud policing strategy which sets out the roles and responsibilities of each organisation involved in tackling fraud and how the police response to fraud at the national, regional and local level will be improved.We are also working closely with Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to understand how they plan to respond to the report’s recommendations that fall to them to implement.

City of London Police: Fraud

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what additional funding he has made available to the City of London Police in their capacity as the national lead for fraud to support a cohesive response to fraud across the UK.

Mr Ben Wallace: We have allocated £2.25m to the City of London Police this financial year for them to carry out their duties as national lead for fraud.

Business: Fraud

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans he has to open more economic crime victim care units.

Mr Ben Wallace: The National Economic Crime Victim Care Unit pilot is led by the City of London Police. Working with the Metropolitan Police Service, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Nottingham and Kent police forces, the pilot is determining how to provide a service to the large numbers of victims of fraud and cyber crime while ensuring every victim gets the right level of support dependent on their individual need. Further roll out of the service to other police force areas will be dependent on a full evaluation.

Trading Standards: Finance

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what funding he has allocated for the National Trading Standards local multi-agency hubs.

Mr Ben Wallace: The former Home Secretary commissioned this report because we wanted a much clearer view of how fraud was being investigated and what improvements were needed.We welcome the report and we are now working to ensure the report’s recommendations are implemented effectively, including supporting the City of London Police to develop a national fraud policing strategy which sets out the roles and responsibilities of each organisation involved in tackling fraud and how the police response to fraud at the national, regional and local level will be improved.We are also working closely with Police and Crime Commissioners (PCCs) to understand how they plan to respond to the report’s recommendations that fall to them to implement.

Bank Services: Fraud

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions his Department has had with banks on the retrospective application of the Authorised Push Payment Scams voluntary code.

Mr Ben Wallace: A new industry voluntary Contingent Reimbursement Model Code for Authorised Push Payment Scam was introduced on 28 May 2019.Customers of those payment service providers that are signatories are protected under the Code from this date. At the outset of the design of the Code, the steering group stated that it will only apply to APP scams occurring after its implementation.

Telecommunications: Fraud

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate he has made of the number of targeted automated phone scams reported in 2018.

Mr Ben Wallace: We do not hold this data centrally. Information on recorded fraud levels can be downloaded and found in table A5 of the Office of National Statistics website, at the following address:https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/datasets/crimeinenglandandwalesappendixtablesThe particular breakdown of reported, targeted automated phone scams reported in 2018 may be recorded under other fraud headings.

Yazidis: Iraq

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of level of safety of Yazidis relocating to (a) Mosul, (b) Basra and (c) Baghdad.

Caroline Nokes: All asylum and human rights claims from Iraqi nationals are carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with our international obligations. This is particularly pertinent when considering whether internal relocation is reasonable for a particular personEach individual assessment is made against the background of the latest available country of origin information and relevant caselaw.Our assessment of the situation for Yazidis in Iraq is set out in the religious minorities country policy and information note, available on the Gov.uk website.

Crime

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to tackle the under-reporting of crime to the police.

Mr Nick Hurd: We would encourage all victims of crime to report such incidents to the police so that they can be investigated and, the perpetrators of crime brought to justice. There is a range of activity underway to encourage more people to come forward and report crimes including domestic abuse, modern slavery and hate crime.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 11 June 2019 to Question 261210, how many applicants who have asserted in their application that they have been continuously resident in the UK for more than five years have been granted pre-settled status to date.

Caroline Nokes: All applicants granted pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme will have agreed that they have been continuously resident in the UK for less than five years either in the application or, post-submission, in discussion with a caseworker.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to pages 9-10 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions and to pages 12-13 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and HMRC, for what reasons automated residency checks will not check applicants' records on child benefit.

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to pages 9-10 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and the Department for Work and Pensions and to pages 12-13 of the Memorandum of Understanding between his Department and HMRC, whether automatic residency checks will give equal weight when calculating length of residence to evidence of (a) one month of employment and (b) one month of claiming housing benefit, employment support allowance, carer's allowance, personal independence payments, disability living allowance, income support, incapacity benefit, attendance allowance, severe disability allowance and/or universal credit.

Caroline Nokes: The purpose of the automated checks is to help the applicant establish their continuous residence in the UK. Eligibility to receive benefits is not dependent upon being continuously resident in the UK. Benefits except Job Seekers Allowance and Maternity Allowance on their own are not strong indicators of continuous residence unless receipt of them persists over a period of 12 months. There are also overlaps with other data that is available from the checks. For instance, PAYE data covers most applicants who claim working tax credits and receipt of other benefits included in the checks will overlap with receipt of child tax credits. Child Benefit is not included in the automated checks because it is not a sufficient indicator of continuous UK residence. A full explanation of how the automated checks work has been published at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/eu-settlement-scheme-uk-tax-and-benefits-records-automated-check.Following analysis conducted on an anonymised sample of 10,000 applications submitted under the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, the Home Office estimated that the potential pool of resident EEA citizens who might benefit from tax credits data being included in the automated checks was around two per cent and this was before any consideration of the applicability of that data to proving continuous residence. Individuals who need to rely on tax credits to demonstrate their continuous residence are still able to provide documentary evidence of this as part of their application.In accordance with section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, we have had due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty.

Speed Limits: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many speeding fines were issued in the (a) North Wales, (b) Dyfed Powys, (c) South Wales and (d) Gwent Police areas in the 2018-19 financial year.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of fixed penalty notices issued for speed limit offences and data for the 2018/19 financial year is due to be published as official statistics in October 2019.Previous editions of the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the status is of his Department's internal investigation into the causes of the Windrush scandal; and when he plans to publish the final report of that investigation.

Caroline Nokes: This is an independent review being led by Wendy Williams, and its independence is crucial to its effectiveness. We are committed to providing Wendy with the time and resources needed to conduct her review to make sure that we learn from, and right the wrongs of the past.The Department has not yet received Wendy Williams’ Lessons Learned Review. On receipt it will be published as soon as practicable.

Fire and Rescue Services: North West

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many (a) fire incidents, (b) rescues and (c) total incidents firefighters in the North West have attended in each year since 2010.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office published the latest statistics on incidents attended by fire and rescue services in 2017/18 on 9 May 2019. The number of total incidents, fires, rescue incidents and other emergency incidents attended by fire and rescue services in the North West1 in each year are shown in the table below:YearTotal incidents FiresRescues2Other emergency incidents32010/1194,81543,3262,07749,4122011/1283,83238,0041,98543,8432012/1371,89028,7811,86441,2452013/1471,59532,0101,61137,9742014/1566,27927,5931,72436,9622015/1674,33929,0771,71143,5512016/1778,05828,6041,74247,7122017/1877,02129,3891,72445,9081 Includes Cumbria, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside fire and rescue services2 Includes rescue or evacuation from water, lift release, other rescue / release of persons3 Includes all other non-fire incidents and fire false alarms

UK Visas and Immigration: Standards

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether UK Visas and Immigration policy is to consider all claims within six months.

Caroline Nokes: Information on the percentage of UK Visa and Immigration applications considered within published service standard by application type are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#uk-visas-and-immigration

Refugees: Families

Mrs Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 9 May 2019 to Question 250458, in what exceptional circumstances there is discretion to grant visas outside the Immigration Rules for extended family members.

Caroline Nokes: Where a refugee family reunion application does not meet the requirements of the Immigration Rules, caseworkers must consider whether there are any exceptional circumstances or compassionate factors which may justify a grant of leave outside the Immigration Rules. We revised our guidance in 2016 to include more detail on the types of case that may benefit from a visa outside the Rules, this includes young adult sons or daughters who are dependent on family here and living in dangerous situations.Specifically, exceptional circumstances or compassionate factors apply where a refusal would either breach the right to respect for family life under Article 8 of the ECHR or result in unjustifiably harsh consequences for the applicant or their family. It is for the applicant to demonstrate what the exceptional circumstances or compassionate factors are in their case. Each case must be decided on its individual merits.

Electronic Surveillance

Mr David Davis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies in relation to the definition of applicable crime in Part 3 of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 of the finding of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Secretary of State for the Home Department v Watson & Others that surveillance data retained for the purposes of fighting crime should be restricted solely to serious crime.

Mr Ben Wallace: The retention of, and ability to access, communications data is an essential tool for intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The Government is committed to ensuring that our investigatory powers legislation is compliant with EU law.The Government gave careful consideration to judgments by the European Court of Justice and the domestic Courts, implementing changes to UK law to ensure our communications data regime was compliant, while still ensuring our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have the powers they need to solve crimes, catch child sexual offenders and protect the public.After consulting widely on our proposed changes and following scrutiny by both Houses of Parliament, the Government passed the Data Retention and Acquisition Regulations in October 2018 which introduced a serious crime threshold for acquiring events communications data.In deciding on the definition of serious crime in the context of communications data, the Government fully considered the intrusiveness of the power.This approach is consistent with EU case law, which states that the offence must be serious to justify a serious level of intrusion involved in accessing communications data. The Government’s approach reflects this level of intrusion. Events data is more intrusive than entity data and therefore a higher threshold must apply, but it is not as intrusive as interception powers, which can only be acquired if the definition of seriousness set out at section 263 of the Investigatory Powers Act is met. The approach taken by the Regulations seeks to reflect the fact the level of intrusion will vary depending on the data sought and the circumstances of the case while also establishing a clear bar below which the acquisition of the more intrusive communications data is prohibited.

Church Commissioners

Churches: Tourism

Jim Shannon: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church of England has taken to promote tourism to its churches and cathedrals.

Dame Caroline Spelman: The Church of England welcomes the Government’s new Tourism Sector Deal, which encompasses all our churches and cathedrals and will give a significant boost to our cultural heritage. Cathedrals in England attract over 10 million visitors a year, the majority as tourists.The Church supports the work of the Churches Visitor and Tourism Association on several initiatives that help the public learn more about their local churches:The Explore Churches website run by the National Churches Trust provides a single online gateway for anyone wanting to visit churches, whether as a tourist or a pilgrim.The Church Heritage Record provides geo-located data on every Church of England church, including information on the history of the building where it is available. Local congregations are encouraged to add details of their church to this and to A Church Near You, to help people planning visits.The Church of England also supports the Cathedrals Marketing and Communications Network to share best practice and coordinate national campaigns. Individual cathedrals encourage visitors through hosting special exhibitions, such as Luke Jerram’s Gaia, currently at Liverpool Cathedral, and Tim Peake’s space capsule, which was visited by over 170,000 people when on display at Peterborough Cathedral as part of a national tour.

Church of England: Community Development

Jim Shannon: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church of England is taking to encourage parishioners to support the local economy.

Dame Caroline Spelman: A recent study of the economic impact of cathedrals in England in 2014 showed that they generated around £220 million annually for the national economy. The report also showed that over 7,300 jobs depend on cathedrals, either through direct employment or the local economy. Tourists and visitors to English cathedrals generate an additional £125m for the local economy through visitor-related spend, which takes place directly in the towns and cities where cathedrals are based. No formal assessment has been made of the direct or indirect contribution of churches to the local economy.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Government

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what assessment she has made of the economic effect of the suspension of the Northern Ireland Executive on (a) Northern Ireland and (b) the UK.

Karen Bradley: The Northern Ireland Executive and Assembly have not been suspended.They are however not functioning in the ways set out in the 1998 Belfast Agreement.This Government has taken the necessary action to ensure good governance and stable public finances in Northern Ireland, which of course is an integral part of the United Kingdom.

Borders: Northern Ireland

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what recent discussions she has had with the Irish Government on preventing the implementation of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Karen Bradley: I have regular discussions with the Irish Government concerning the UK's exit from the EU.

Treasury

Revenue and Customs

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HMRC has plans to publish its correspondence with (a) tax payers and (b) agents.

Jesse Norman: HMRC have no plans to publish their correspondence with tax payers and agents. HM Revenue and Customs are bound by a strict duty of confidentiality with respect to all of the information they hold in connection with their functions. HMRC officials may share information only in the limited circumstances set out in legislation, which include disclosures for the purposes of HMRC’s functions, through specific ‘legislative gateways’ or with a person’s consent.

Capital Gains Tax: Tax Allowances

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason the application of Capital Gains Tax relief on trees from which private owners of established conifer woodland benefit after the first 10 years.

Jesse Norman: Where businesses dispose of assets, they may qualify for capital gains tax relief if the proceeds are reinvested in new business assets (known as Business Asset Rollover Relief). Land used for “short rotation coppice” (i.e. cutting back a tree at intervals of less than 10 years to harvest the stems) is defined by statute as land used for farming activities. Forestry businesses on woodland where trees are felled less frequently may still qualify for this relief, where they can demonstrate that the woodland is managed on a commercial basis and with a view to the realisation of profits.

Tax Avoidance: Public Sector

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of the changes to IR35 off-payroll rules on the public sector.

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to tackle stakeholder's concerns regarding the roll-out of the off-payroll rules to the private sector.

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to support contracting and the flexible economy following the roll out of IR35.

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to pause the roll-out of the off-payroll tax to the private sector.

Jesse Norman: The off-payroll working rules (sometimes known as IR35) only affect people working like employees and through a company. They are designed to ensure that individuals pay a fair amount of tax and NICs, regardless of the structure they work through. They do not affect the self-employed. To address widespread non-compliance, the rules were reformed in the public sector to shift responsibility for assessing the individual’s employment status from the individual’s company to the public authority. The Government has monitored the public sector reform of the off-payroll working rules through independent research, engagement with the public sector and analysis of HMRC data. Evidence shows the changes are having the desired effect. Compliance is increasing, with an estimated £550 million in additional employment taxes being raised over the first 12 months without damaging the flexibility of the labour market. Following consultation, the Government announced at Budget 2018 that it will extend this reform to all medium and large organisations. The Government listened to stakeholder views during the consultation, and decided the reform will not apply to the smallest 1.5 million businesses. Large and medium businesses will have longer to adjust, with the changes being introduced in April 2020. There are no plans to delay implementation beyond that date. The Government consulted on the detailed operation of the reform earlier this year, and met over 100 affected businesses and their representatives. The Government is considering the responses to that consultation and will publish its response in due course. The Government recognises the importance of contracting and the flexible economy. The off-payroll working rules do not affect the self-employed and will not stop anyone working through a company. Independent research in to the changes made to the public sector did not indicate any major disruption and there is no evidence that these changes will have an adverse effect on the flexible economy.

Employment: Taxation

Catherine West: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of whether the Check Employment Status for Tax tool is fit-for-purpose ahead of the roll-out of the off-payroll rules to the private sector.

Jesse Norman: Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) is an online guidance service, published on Gov.UK alongside HMRC’s more detailed guidance on employment status. HMRC developed CEST to help all engagers and individuals to determine employment status and decide whether the off-payroll rules apply. HMRC’s CEST service has been rigorously tested against known case law and settled cases, and HMRC stand by the result if it is used in accordance with their guidance. HMRC continue to enhance CEST in response to stakeholders’ concerns. Improvements will be made to language and presentation and include guidance to ensure questions are clearly understood. Changes are being tested with tax specialists and users of the service to ensure they meet individuals’ and businesses’ needs.

Air Passenger Duty: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what progress has been made on reducing air passenger duty on domestic flights from Northern Ireland's airports; and if he will make a statement.

Robert Jenrick: The government has established a technical working group that is considering the operational and legal context of APD in Northern Ireland. The group met in Belfast in March, and will meet again next month to continue discussions with stakeholders. For domestic journeys, airlines are liable on both outward and return leg domestic journeys as APD applies to all departures from a UK airport. It is not possible under current EU law to have different rates of APD on intra-UK flights than on flights from the UK to other European Union destinations.

Freezing of Assets: Libya

Lady Hermon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much tax was taken by HM Treasury on the interest accrued on Libyan assets frozen in UK banks in each of the years since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Jesse Norman: The Government’s response of 24 June to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee report (on Government support for UK victims of IRA attacks that used Qadhafi-supplied Semtex and weapons) set out the information the Government had obtained about tax receipts derived from frozen Libyan assets held in UK banks. The response states: “Around £17 million has been received in total since the start of the 2016-17 tax year. HMRC currently receives around £5 million each year.” Information on the tax taken on interest accrued on Libyan assets frozen in UK banks is not held centrally within government and would involve disproportionate costs to collect and collate.

Banks: Foreign Trade

Ian Paisley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what guidance his Department has issued to foreign-owned banks trading in the UK on the regulation of the use of bank accounts by people on the UN sanctions list.

John Glen: All banks (foreign or UK owned) operating within the UK’s jurisdiction must comply with financial sanctions regulations that apply in the UK. The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, publishes information and guidance on GOV.UK to inform and assist compliance with financial sanctions regulations. This includes a consolidated list of individuals and companies designated by the United Nations, the European Union and under the UK’s domestic sanctions regimes.

Employment: Taxation

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Check Employment Status for Tax Tool ahead the roll-out of the Off-Payroll rules to the private sector.

Jesse Norman: Check Employment Status for Tax (CEST) is an online guidance service, published on Gov.UK alongside HMRC’s more detailed guidance on employment status. HMRC developed CEST to help all engagers and individuals to determine employment status and decide whether the off-payroll rules apply. HMRC’s CEST service has been rigorously tested against known case law and settled cases, and HMRC stand by the result if it is used in accordance with their guidance. HMRC continue to enhance CEST in response to stakeholders’ concerns. Improvements will be made to language and presentation and include guidance to ensure questions are clearly understood. Changes are being tested with tax specialists and users of the service to ensure they meet individuals’ and businesses’ needs.

VAT: Private Education

Alex Sobel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the money retained by private schools as a result of the VAT exemption on private school fees in 2017-18.

Jesse Norman: Although no VAT is charged on private school fees, private schools cannot recover VAT on their related costs. There is therefore no money retained as a direct result of the VAT exemption on private school fees.

Schools: Finance

Ian Lavery: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Education on the adequacy of central government funding for schools.

Elizabeth Truss: Treasury ministers regularly discuss public spending issues with Cabinet Colleagues. This year the Government is investing £43 billion of core funding into schools, ensuring that core schools funding grows in real terms per pupil. The National Funding Formula is providing every local authority with more money for every pupil in every school. This means thousands of underfunded schools will attract significantly larger gains of up to 6% per pupil and every school attracting at least 1% more per pupil over the last two years.

Treasury: Iron and Steel

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will sign his Department up to the UK Steel charter.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether officials in his Department have had discussions with officials in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the UK Steel charter.

Robert Jenrick: We have discussed the procurement of steel with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which has asked all government departments to consider guidance on steel procurement and to notify of any upcoming opportunities for industry. More broadly, the government is committed to supporting the steel sector to realise the broader commercial opportunities that are open to it. The Chancellor announced at the last Budget that we are establishing the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund – backed by up to £315 million of investment – to help businesses with high energy use (including steel companies) to cut their bills and transition UK industry to a low carbon future. We are also providing up to £66m through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to help steel and other foundation industries develop radical new technologies.

Financial Services

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on (a) financial services and (b) the wider service economy of the UK leaving the EU without an agreement.

John Glen: As a responsible Government, we have been preparing for a range of potential EU exit outcomes for over two years, including the possibility of no deal.In November 2018 the Government published a detailed set of economic analyses on the long-term impacts of EU exit on the UK economy, its sectors, nations and regions, and the public finances.The analysis shows that the spectrum of outcomes for the future UK-EU relationship would deliver significantly higher economic output than the no deal scenario. Every sector, nation and region would be better-off than in a no deal scenario.The complete analysis can be found in the “EU Exit: Long-Term Economic Analysis” paper, available on the Gov.uk website in Exiting the European Union: Publications section.

Dementia: Social Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that dementia care is adequately funded in the next Spending Review.

Elizabeth Truss: Dementia care is supported by both NHS and adult social care funding. As part of the NHS’s cash increase of £33.9bn a year by 2023-24 and outlined in their long-term plan, the NHS will provide better support for people with dementia through a more active focus on supporting people in the community. And over three years (2017-18 to 2019-20) we have given councils access to up to around £10bn more dedicated funding for adult social care. The Spending Review represents an opportunity to consider public spending priorities in the round, and the Treasury will be working closely with departments on funding issues, and with a renewed focus on delivering outcomes.

Dementia: Social Services

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the level of funding for dementia care.

Elizabeth Truss: Dementia care is supported by both NHS and adult social care funding. As part of the NHS’s cash increase of £33.9bn a year by 2023-24 and outlined in their long-term plan, the NHS will provide better support for people with dementia through a more active focus on supporting people in the community. And over three years (2017-18 to 2019-20) we have given councils access to up to around £10bn more dedicated funding for adult social care.The Spending Review represents an opportunity to consider public spending priorities in the round, and the Treasury will be working closely with departments on funding issues, and with a renewed focus on delivering outcomes. In line with the practice of successive administrations, details of ministerial discussions are not normally disclosed.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Television: Licensing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with representatives from the BBC on the BBC's decision to charge people aged over 75 for TV licences.

Jeremy Wright: Since the BBC took its decision, I have met with the Chairman of the BBC Board and the Director-General of the BBC and I have asked them to do more to help the most vulnerable groups affected by the decision.

Technology: Companies

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the growth of technology firms in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Margot James: We are confident the digital technology sector and its startup community will continue to go from strength to strength. Our ambition is to ensure the UK is the best place in the world to start and grow a digital business - and that ambition remains after we leave the EU. Tech Nation and Dealroom have released figures showing that investment in UK tech reached £6.8 billion ($8.7bn) last year and has already reached £3.8 billion ($4.8bn) in the first half of 2019, showing that the UK tech ecosystem is world-leading and in a strong position. We are investing in the areas the sector needs: adequate access to both finance and talent. That is why for finance, Government announced a new £2.5 billion British Patient Capital programme, which is expected to attract a further £5 billion in private investment, in order to support UK companies with high growth potential to access the long-term investment they need to grow and go global. To continue to attract international talent, we have doubled the number of Tier 1 Exceptional Talent visas to 2,000, and taken doctors and nurses out of the Tier 2 visa cap, freeing up many more skilled worker visas to other sectors, including tech. At the end of March this year, we also launched the new Start-Up and Innovator visa routes for entrepreneurs. In addition, at London Tech Week in June the PM launched a study into tech competitiveness - this will identify key opportunities and support mechanisms for business growth in the digital tech sector. And Tech Nation supports businesses across the UK to enable continued growth of the digital tech sector. Government funding will help Tech Nation support 40,000 entrepreneurs and up to 4,000 start-ups as they scale their businesses across the UK including Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and Newcastle.

Football: Sportsgrounds

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has consulted on safe standing in English football stadiums.

Mims Davies: We believe that all-seater stadia are currently the best means to ensure the safety and security of fans at designated football matches in England and Wales. I meet a wide range of football stakeholders and discuss standing at football with them amongst other issues. We commissioned an independent review of the existing evidence relating to the all-seater policy and are considering an appropriate date for the report’s release.

Tourism: Coastal Areas

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to promote coastal tourism in the UK; and what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect on tourism of the UK leaving the EU (a) with and (b) without a deal.

Mims Davies: VisitBritain and VisitEngland are responsible for promoting the UK as a tourist destination, which they do through a range of different initiatives and campaigns. VisitBritain sit on the Coastal Tourism Leadership Forum (run by the National Coastal Tourism Academy), helping to shape the Coastal Visitor Economy Vision and Action Plan. DCMS are observers at the forum. VisitEngland administer the £40m Discover England Fund which develops innovative products with customisable, bookable itineraries across England. The England’s Coast project is a good example of this and includes the North East coastline in its itineraries. My colleagues in the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government also provide support and funding to coastal areas through the Coastal Communities Fund and the Coastal Revival Fund, much of which has a tourism focus. They have also set up Coastal Community Teams around the country to support the development of the coastal economy. The Tourism Sector Deal was announced on 28th June with the aim of boosting the sector’s productivity as we look forward to welcoming up to 9m more visitors a year in the future. As part of the Sector Deal, initiatives such as Tourism Zones will provide focused support for areas across the country. Coastal regions are among those who will be able to take part in the bidding process. In terms of the impact of EU exit on tourism, we will remain an open and welcoming destination, and we want international visitors to experience all the wonderful coastlines, countryside, and culture that the UK has to offer.For example, the UK and the EU have proposed reciprocal visa-free travel arrangements to enable UK and EU citizens to continue to travel freely for tourism in the future. This is also the case in a no deal scenario. The Government has also confirmed that EU nationals can continue to travel on a national ID card until December 2020 and use e-gates when travelling on a passport.

Nuisance Calls

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what change there has been in the number of nuisance calls being reported since the banning of cold calls from personal injury firms and pension providers.

Margot James: Complaints relating to cold calls from injury firms and pension providers are monitored by the Information Commissioner’s office (ICO). The ICO has reported a drop in complaints of cold calls from personal injury firms and pension providers since the new measures were introduced in September 2018 and January 2019 respectively. Details can be found on their website (https://ico.org.uk).  Cold calling relating to claims management companies, including those that handle personal injury claims, and pensions are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and enforced by the ICO. The ICO and the FCA work together to carry out their respective regulatory responsibilities alongside Government to monitor the impact of cold calling bans.

Travel Information:  Gatwick Airport

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to improve tourist information facilities at Gatwick airport and other entry points to the UK.

Mims Davies: Gatwick is a private commercial entity, therefore the airport is responsible for providing or improving tourist facilities and information within its site. As part of the promotional activity of VisitBritain, research shows that visitors planning on coming to the UK more often than not begin planning their activities 3 to 6 months ahead of their travel time. Therefore most of VisitBritain’s marketing activity is targeted at reaching potential visitors at this stage in their preparations. VisitBritain have developed a strong relationship with Gatwick airport and are working together to determine potential promotional opportunities for the future. VisitBritain also work with airports across the country to promote them to international visitors as a gateway for regions outside of London, such as the Discover England Fund project: Manchester As An International Gateway. They have also used imagery from the GREAT campaign to promote areas of the UK to incoming travellers in Heathrow airport.

Victoria Tower Gardens

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans the Government has for the management of Victoria Tower Gardens after the construction of the proposed Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre; and what discussions he has had with Royal Parks on that matter.

Mims Davies: Officials continue to have discussions with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and The Royal Parks on this issue.

Victoria Tower Gardens

Sir Edward Leigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what arrangements he plans to put in place in Victoria Tower Gardens for periods in winter when the Holocaust Memorial and Learning Centre is open but the rest of the gardens are closed at dusk.

Mims Davies: The opening hours of the proposed Holocaust Memorial have not yet been determined.

Gambling: Children

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to safeguard children against exposure to gambling opportunities associated with (a) in-app and (b) in-game purchases on gaming consoles and mobile devices.

Mims Davies: Protecting children and the vulnerable from being harmed or exploited by gambling is a core objective of the Gambling Commission, as the regulator for gambling in Great Britain, and a priority for the government. There are also strong protections in place for children who play video games. The Pan European Game Information (PEGI) ratings system used to classify video games, will not award ratings to products that allow gambling, significantly restricting their ability to be sold in the UK. Where a game contains elements that could teach or encourage gambling like behaviour, it will be awarded a minimum PEGI 12 rating and will also have a gambling pictogram label applied to alert parents to the content. Additionally, most video games and mobile platforms come with a range of parental control tools that can include allowing parents to block games based on PEGI age ratings, disable in-game purchases and monitor and place limits on use. PEGI provides more information here https://pegi.info/parental-controls. Where licensed online gambling is offered, operators are required to verify the age of a consumer before they can deposit money and gamble, or access free-to-play demo games. The Gambling Commission has strong powers and has shown it will take action where there are breaches of the rules - in 2017, it successfully prosecuted the FutGalaxy website for offering illegal gambling with in-game items – known as skins gambling.

Prime Minister

Climate Change

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to her oral contribution of 26 June 2019, Official Report, column 650, what the evidential basis is for her statement that the Labour party in the House of Lords is trying to block the net zero 2050 legislation.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave her during my statement on the G20.